


The Superhero Adoption Scheme

by Beckendorf



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Cap is 21st century trendy, Cute, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, M/M, Multi, Own Character, Superfamily (Marvel), Superhusbands, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-26
Updated: 2013-08-06
Packaged: 2017-12-13 01:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 42,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/818355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beckendorf/pseuds/Beckendorf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which SHIELD decide to give Mother Hen Steve a baby who just happens to have super spider powers, the mighty Earth saving Avengers become the softie family baby-sitting Avengers, Steve can't do romance for toffee and the new Mr & Mr Stark-Rogers set up the superhero adoption scheme for super powered children.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "Would you like this baby?"

_Set after the Avengers assemble. I’ve seen IM3 but I really can’t think of a plausible link between this story and the movie (plus too many feels. Way too many feels) so let’s pretend that never happened.  
A few notes, I live in England so I don’t really know a lot about America or New York so sorry about generalisation and branding but I will try my best. Also I tend to go quite fast in my writing and this first chapter is literally just Steve getting used to Peter. More action starts in the next chapter. I’d love some constructive criticism because I’m always trying to better my writing  but otherwise, please enjoy this offering!_

____________________________________________________________

“I don’t quite understand-“  
“Then allow me to explain again Captain, it’s quite simple really, we’ve decided to entrust the care of young Peter Parker unto you.”  
“But…how?! Why?” Steve was bewildered. Why would they want him to take care of a baby? If he was honest, he could barely take care of himself.  
“Because his parents died in a lab accident and we haven’t managed to locate any other living relatives. Plus, the director and I agreed you were the more…maternal of our choices.”  
“Maternal?” When had he ever expressed that quality? Sure he was worried about people’s well-being and all that, but not as much as to call him…maternal.  
“Yes Captain, as in, you like to take care of people. As in, this baby would probably die within five minutes of enduring Stark.He has nowhere else to go…”  
Even Steve had to agree to that. He hadn’t even met the child yet. He knew that the Agent had only said that to guilt trip him into doing it so he couldn’t say no to that. He can only imagine all the “Captain America saves puppies and adopts all kids” taunts he’s going to get for this.  
Which is how he found himself a few hours later sitting on his lounge floor, parenting books, magazines and brochures spread in front of him, looking at the napping child on his sofa. The boy looked so calm when he slept, round face still filled with baby fat and curly brown hair sticking up. Steve especially marvelled at the boy’s eyes, cerulean blue.  
Steve ran an agitated hand through his hair, how would he even go about this? He knew what he needed…sort of. He needed to get him food, clothes, all the usual fancy baby gear. SHIELD had given him $5000 to spend on him. Before Steve would’ve thought that was a lot, but seeing the prices these days, he could understand why he would need that much. As he flicked through the pages of one particular Mothercare brochure he saw an Avengers range of baby merchandise. He wasn’t sure whether to be embarrassed or proud. In the end he decided to get Peter the Avengers bottle set, each complete with their individual signs, no harm done in a little propaganda right? Food was going to be difficult, but he knew enough about this time to just home deliver everything. That’s right people, remember: Captain America-man of the modern world. He even has the latest StarkPhone.  
Asides this trivial job of ordering just about every baby related material out there including Captain America pyjamas, he had absolutely no idea what to do next. A part of him was extremely annoyed, just shoving this helpless child onto him without so much as a breath about how he got here apart from “the incident at the lab”. They had made is explicitly clear that this required the time, patience and capability of a superhero. He was still trying to figure out why. He got that his parents died in the lab accident…there wasn’t any way the baby could’ve been in there for him to get exposed to something. It was probably this lack of sleep getting to him. He yawned and leaned onto the sofa, drifting into sleep the minute his eyes were closed.  
It wasn’t until the next morning he realised exactly how taxing taking care of a child could be, and that Agent Coulson was right.  
Steve slowly opened his eyes. He must’ve fallen asleep on the couch again. He slowly got up and turned around, stretching his neck, when he noticed the blanket on the couch, and the lack of baby in it. He was up in a flash and quickly checked there was no draught coming in from potential open windows before walking through his flat calling for Peter. Twenty minutes later and he’d checked all the “hidey-holes” in his house. Forty minutes later and there was still no sign of him. Most maternal of the Avengers indeed, it’s only day 1 and he’s already lost the child.  
He continued to walk through the house, thinking rationally about where the child could have gone when he heard a small giggle come from….above him? He slowly looked up and sure enough there was the little rascal himself, somehow balanced perfectly on the ceiling. Peter was giggling and smiling his almost toothless grin, just a small flash of white showing from his top gum. Steve was…well surprised didn’t even half cover it. It made sense now, if he hadn’t already seen a fair share of weird he could understand how this would be a little more…unexpected for the average couple. Steve reached up to the ceiling in an attempt to get Peter down but he seemed content to just roam up top for a while, scurrying away from Steve’s hands with an excited giggle. Steve couldn’t help but smile himself as he followed him, continuously trying to catch the boy until he finally had him in a corner. He moved remarkably like a spider, Steve thought. But then he paused, Richard Parker-Peter’s father, had conducted research involving insects and humans hadn’t he? Surely he wouldn’t have tested…on his own son? He made a mental note to look into it later. For now, he had a spider baby to take care of. And said Spider Baby’s various bits of paraphernalia to fix.  
The boxes were massive with the high chairs and the various bits of baby safety and then the clothes, he had no idea how he was going to manage. He started with the high chair, setting it near the kitchen Island and strapping Peter in just in time for Breakfast.  
“So you’re almost two right? So you should be on solid foods..” He remembered that stewed apples were apparently a good idea for babies so he got to cutting one up and placing it in a syrup he didn’t even know he owned. He would occasionally look behind him to see Peter playing absent mindedly with the little Avengers figurines that had come with the bottle set. He smiled and thought about how much of a sap he was becoming.  
Eventually all good things have to come to an end and he was covered in projectile vomit after feeding Peter the stewed apples. Looks like that was off the list.  
Of course that meant he now had to clean them both up. Luckily, Peter loved the bath and didn’t protest much when Steve washed his hair. He'd heard that bath time was generally difficult for children, but Peter had been nothing but peaceful. After they were both dry and Peter was now in his little fleece pajamas, he decided to try the food job once more. Or he would have, had Peter not fallen asleep on his chest. Steve smiled and put him under the blanket on the couch again, his large finger clasped in Peter’s chubby palm. He seemed to be adamant to holding onto Steve so the poor man had no choice but to manoeuvre himself into a sitting position next to the baby bundle. But the precious face and desperate hold on his finger made him realise that he really didn’t mind.  
He leaned over carefully and kissed the smooth forehead, it was still only the afternoon, and he had a lot of cleaning to do, but he supposed it wouldn’t do any harm just to lie with Peter a while. And so he did.


	2. Captain America isn't taking your shit today son.

_I’m actually so surprised people read this! AND 11 KUDOS. THIS IS ICONIC FOR ME. I’m over the moon! Well here’s chapter 2! Prepare for the fluffy and cheese. Oh so much Cheese. I should really have tagged that._

It took a few weeks of getting used to, but eventually Steve thought he was doing a pretty good job of being a parent. He’d trained himself to sleep the same times Peter did and wake up just a little before him so he could tend to all his needs. Following all the parenting books he gave Peter all the right nutrients, spent just the right amount of time (if not more) with him a day and-well if he was being perfectly honest, spoilt the boy rotten. It still surprised him when Peter was scaling the walls or ceiling and sometimes secreted webbing from his hands, but Steve could already imagine the barely there but still so apparent “I told you so” smirk on Coulson’s face the next time he saw him. 

He barely noticed that three months had passed by when Peter said his first “word”. Three blissfully peaceful months. He figured anyone with harmful intentions worthy of the Avenger’s attention had been well warned after the attack. The only drawback he had was that they didn’t spend any time together. They weren’t really a…team. Oh well, Steve had other things to occupy himself with now. Namely the sudden voice of his little house guest. It had been unusual because he was nearing two years old and so far hadn’t said anything, but Steve blamed it on the explosion. He was still a child after all, how much of this did he understand? By the looks of it, his parents didn’t spend much time with him at all because he hadn’t seemed so attached them. It would explain why he was so much more attached to Steve.  
Steve decided that every parent ever deserved an award. Even in the bliss of early parenthood, they’d had many “accidents” around the house, a few sleepless nights and general bumps in the road which had left Steve-for all his amazing metabolism and strength, exhausted. But who ever says parenting doesn’t have any rewards clearly never had something so rewarding as scenes like this one. 

Peter’s heavy feet plodded into the kitchen and Steve turned around just in time to see him pointing an accusing finger up at the larger man, determined in his stance with a mischievous grin on his face. 

“Hey there little buddy, I see you’re up huh?” He crouched down and smiled back. 

Peter grinned and pushed a little finger at Steve’s chest. “Stee!” He exclaimed happily and then he pointed at himself and frowned. “Pee-Pee tah!”  
If Steve’s heart could swell any more than already had, it would probably be out of his chest. He laughed and grabbed the little boy into a Captain America bear hug and smiled as the boy laughed against him. He’d been referring to himself as “Steve” a lot when he talked to Peter and couldn’t have been more proud that he’d mastered his name-well nearly mastered it, by himself. 

The lovely moment was interrupted by the rather loud growling of a certain Spider Baby’s stomach and Steve placed him in his high chair, giving him the milkshake.  
And so it became a sort of tradition, every time he would look for Peter, it would be a simple call followed by an enthusiastic “STEE!” from somewhere in the house.  
When Peter’s birthday did finally arise, Steve stayed up the whole night making him a little nest in his favourite corner of the living room. It was essentially like a dog basket, but with his favourite little toys, a few supports and in the end something closely resembling a professional blanket fort stood. He made sure it was safe and spider proof, hoping Peter would like it. 

At around 2 am Steve finally sat down on the squeaky leather couch with the intentions to watch some television. He had finally finished cleaning and stocking his apartment for his new little house guest. The screen flickered and showed some insane TV show about people challenging their greatest fears. Sickly as it was, only fifteen minutes later, it put him to sleep. It had been a heavy few months of learning and teaching, add to that his already apparent insomnia that’s two out of three strikes done. It was hard to believe a year had already passed since that dreaded Chitauri invasion. He hadn’t seen any of the team in months and he’d heard his share of rumours about Tony Stark.  
A loud scream broke the night’s silence, followed by a series of sobs. Steve was up in seconds, assessing his surroundings. He’d been dreaming about the war again, the scream had only made it worse. He bounded down the hallway to his bedroom. Upon arrival he saw a shaking bump in his large duvet. Steve gently bundled the fleece around the little blob and pulled it to his chest, exposing the young boy’s head as he did. Peter’s normally blue eyes were wet and rimmed with red, his lower trip trembling and brown hair messy, likely the result of restless movement. It wasn’t uncommon for him to have nightmares; the poor child was barely two years old and had already witnessed an explosion first hand. Steve rubbed careful circles into Peter’s back to calm him down. He still hadn’t got to grips with sleeping next to him yet considering he himself had some…violent nightmares, but he made sure he was accessible in case something like this happened.  
He hummed softly, now rocking the little bundle. Peter started crying again,  
“Hey hey Pete it’s okay, it’s all right, I’m here…you’re safe…you’re with me Pete, you’re with Stee! You’re with…Daddy” He tried not to let his voice break on the last word. It had just sort of…slipped out. Well, that’s a lie. He’d always thought about being a father, dreamt of having a son or daughter of his own. Earlier the problem was that he’d never find the right woman, now the problem was his hectic lifestyle. The gods had clearly answered his prayer and given him Peter, but for how long? How long would it be before he would be called back to HQ and told they’d found his living relatives or they’d found a more suitable home for him. It would break his heart, and he’d be back to being completely alone inside his large apartment. He looked down at Peter and smiled at the large blue orbs staring back up at him. He kissed the boy’s forehead and continued to hold him. Eventually they both settled on Steve’s rarely used queen size bed in the master bedroom. Peter was sleeping soundly on the broad expanse of Steve’s chest and Steve was cautiously keeping hold of Peter. 

He closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep. 

Unfortunately, as most things in Steve’s life, there comes a time when something has to interfere with his slice of Paradise. This time it came in the shape and size of a certain Agent Phil Coulson. 

“Captain you’re needed at SHIELD HQ A.S.A.P. We’ve sent transport, he’ll meet you down at the front in five.”  
“What? Can’t you just…I dunno email the stuff to me? I know you have secure servers!”  
“Afraid not Captain this needs your personal presence.”  
“But you know why I can’t come Agent, “ He lowered his voice, “I can’t just leave Peter alone!”  
“Then, by all means Captain, bring him with you.”  
“…On a mission?”  
“This isn’t a mission Captain, that’s all I can say for now, be there or I will personally make sure you get here myself.” Steve sighed, a threat from Coulson is not to be taken lightly.  
Which is why ten minutes later (screw the SHIELD car, they’re forcing him there they’re going to have to wait till he’s ready) he carefully held Peter, now very proudly wearing a hoodie with his shield on it and little light up trainers. Steve slipped on tinted sunglasses that matched his just to add to the effect because he’s really quite sappy and it looks cute. Peter looked amazingly enthusiastic having only been out of the house every so often to go to the park. Despite what the parenting books had said, Steve hadn’t wanted to venture out much with Peter until he was completely sure of what he was doing. He walked into the completely unobvious black S.U.V and strapped Peter into the car seat he’d had to carry down the stairs. At least now he knew why the women were always giggling at him. 

Twenty minutes of “STEE!” and pointing later, they were at the HQ. Steve noticed the car had changed registration plates during their journey. The things they did for secrecy. He held Peter just a little tighter to his chest as they walked in. Peter seemed to sense his tension as he was unusually still on Steve’s hip, only turning every so often to look at the new sights.  
“Ah Captain Rogers, we’ve been expecting you, we’ve been told to take care of Peter. I understand he is to remain in the same room as the one in which you were introduced.” Came from the female agent showing him to where this urgent meeting would take place. He didn’t trust them one bit with Peter, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to hide it.  
“Why can’t I just take him in with me?”  
She stumbled a little, “They felt it would be easier for you if Peter was taken care off, he might not be able to sit through the meeting.”  
“He’ll be able to sit through it just fine.”  
“Please we’ve been told you’re not to take Peter in with you…I-I’ll lose my job if you do.” She sounded so broken, so in the end Steve decided to agree. Plus he could see the flipside of this, if he was in a meeting with Peter and anything happened, it would be a liability. But, since he knew the room where they were keeping him, he could make an easy escape. If necessary of course. 

He reluctantly let Peter go and walked into Conference Room 4.  
“Well look who finally decided to show up!” Steve looked up and saw all the Avengers gathered around the round table with Agent Coulson giving Steve his very disappointed face (secretly fanboying that he had that sort of authority over his childhood hero).  
“Good Captain, is it nice to see you again!” Boomed Thor from the corner. Steve smiled, that guy had the amazing capability of being happy whatever the situation.  
“Sorry I’m late had a few things to do…” He said, staring at Coulson whilst taking his seat.  
“Wow Captain America late for something? We should alert the government or something.” Came the clearly bored tone of Tony Stark from the corner, who looked like he was playing Angry Birds. Steve grinned, oh this he could do.  
“If you tilt the red bird at an 18 degree angle and pull the slingshot back by about the quarter of the distance you’ll get the closest green pig.” He said, internally smirking at the looks of shock Barton and Stark were giving him. “What? Even I get bored sometimes.” He said turning to Coulson to start the meeting.  
“Well anyway, as much as it pains me to stay this, Stark over here has finally found his heart and decided to let you guys move in with him at Avengers Tower.”  
“Yep, so I’ll expect to see your sorry asses there tomorrow morning latest. No need to thank me guys.”  
What. They were moving into…Avengers Tower? Why didn’t they consult him about this? On any other circumstance h would have said yes but…dammit Coulson and Fury knew why he couldn’t! Speaking of which where was Fury anyway? He’d have to ask Coulson later.  
He looked at the others, hoping to see some sort of disgust or rejection. Instead he was met with approval, even Bruce and Natasha despite their quiet characteristics. Clint punched the air “Yes free StarkTech for everyone.”  
“Heh don’t push your luck Pinkeye"  
“Your generosity will not go unwasted Friend Tony! I will alert my fair Jane tonight.”  
Coulson seemed happy with the reaction and turned to Steve, eyebrow ever so slightly quirked with a question. 

“I-I can’t.” 

“What?” Stark looked over his sunglasses. “What do you mean “you can’t?” will this cramp your way too busy social life with the golden oldies?”  
Steve bit back his comeback and aimed his glare-turned puppy dog expression to Coulson. “I can’t. You know I can’t.” He said, despite everyone else staring at him.  
“Captain we’ve assessed the situation and we deem is suitable for your-“  
“Dammit Coulson I’m already risking it sitting here! I can’t and that’s final.”  
“You will and that’s an order from the Director himself.” How inconsiderate was he going to be!? First he’s not allowed to take Peter into the meeting even though the meeting is about moving him and Peter to a new home. This was not sitting well with him.  
“Well clearly the director doesn’t know anything about-the situation then. That’s my final word.” He got up and shoved the chair a little too hard, snapping it as he walked out of the room slamming the door. 

“Geez there are subtler ways to tell someone you don’t like them…”  
“Stark not now.” Coulson slapped his forehead and followed Steve’s example, leaving the rest of them in silence.  
“I fear the good captain is in ill health.”  
“Yeah, he seems to be suffering from something called Tony Stark.”  
“Why do immediately assume it’s me?”  
“You said it yourself!” 

Natasha rolled her eyes and slinked out of the room, unnoticed as they continued to fight. She walked down the corridors towards the entrance just in time to see Steve leave with what looked like a baby on his hip. She followed a group of agents heading that direction, walking behind them so she wouldn’t be seen. Steve had walked down to where one of the SHIELD cars was parked, clearly waiting for the driver to return.  
Peter was asleep when he’d come to collect him so Steve had lifted him carefully so as to not to wake him. He rocked him gently in his arms, smiling at the child's peaceful face. How long had they anticipated he was going to stay here? He didn't notice the footsteps behind him. 

“So is that your situation then?”


	3. Captain America: The Universal face of Fatherhood.

I’m churning out chapters quite fast in this O_O well I guess I’ve really got the momentum going. Thanks to everyone who gave this kudos! I’m ecstatic and you’re all getting pixelated cookies! I’m thinking this might go up to 8 chapters max? Maybe even more. It’s chapter 3 and none of the action has started to take place. Sorry if this is starting a little slow :S the formations of Stony will start to get built in the next chapter. And then you’re gonna meet Cynthia! There is a plot in here somewhere I swear! Here’s a little heads up: Where’s Fury? :O  
Also I should probably put a disclaimer in huh? Well I own nothing except this cheesed up plot. And you probably know the rest. 

“I can’t believe I’m doing this…” Steve sighed as they were once again sat in one of SHIELD’S regulation vehicles. Peter was sitting on his lap today; well technically he was sitting in Steve’s shield. It had been an interesting morning when they’d cleared out the apartment and Peter saw Steve posing in front of the mirror with it. His eyes had widened almost comically and he’d pointed at the Shield shouting “Stee!”and then pointed at the motif on his own hoodie. Peter had now learned how to say “yes, no, please and thank you” albeit a little disjointedly so it was “pease” and “Tank u” but he was learning. Steve felt especially proud of the boy. He knew it wasn’t anything to brag about, but he was holding the fact that Peter had made the connection between Steve, his shield and the clothes so fast as an achievement. Another word Peter had learned was “Da” and sometimes Steve was now “Stee-da” or just “da”. But mostly Stee. He blamed the children’s TV shows for teaching him about Parental pronouns, but why hinder the boy’s freedom of speech? Especially how proud it made Steve. (Captain’s America sap levels now up to 40%) 

The car halted in front of the newly refurbished Stark Tower, but instead of dropping them to the entrance, the car went behind the entrance. It was to prevent any onlookers from recognising Steve and Peter. At least they’d taken that precaution.  
With careful movement Steve strapped his shield and a few bags onto his back, Peter held carefully on his hip and a large suitcase in his free hand. It was mostly Peter’s stuff he was carrying since he himself owned very little. Well, little things that were unreplacable. The elevator opened with a beep just as Steve approached it. He stepped in and noticed there was just a blank panel where the buttons should be. 

“Good Afternoon Captain Rogers, Sir has been expecting you.”  
Steve nodded at the voice he assumed was Jarvis. Peter had been rather quiet, but Steve had realised it wasn’t so much of a flaw as it was just part of character. He was normally quiet in new places and with new people and if the person talked to Steve first, then Peter would deem them safe.  
The elevator was fast, much faster than the beat up one in Steve’s apartment and Peter cried out with joy rather than pain. The doors opened revealing a very flashy lounge. 

“Y’know Steve, when you had your big diva strop in SHIELD, I honestly didn’t think you’d come. What made you change your mi-“ Tony had just stopped in front of them, drinks in each hand, staring.

“Yes Tony?” Steve said, aware he probably wasn’t expecting a kid. Peter meanwhile turned around and flashed Tony his flawless grin, giggling as he did so.

“Steve…what is that?” He said accusingly, eyes narrowing. 

“What is what, Tony?” He said, maintaining his so called angelic innocence. 

“Don’t play dumb with me, that thing in your arms.” 

“You mean Peter, my kid?” 

“Yes I mean-woah, your son. Wait don’t tell me, Captain America, sworn church-boy and scout extraordinaire, went and knocked some girl up and took custody of the baby. Wow this is going to be one interesting story for the dinner table.” 

“His parents died in a lab incident and SHIELD told me I was the only one suitable to look after him.” He replied, deadpan. 

“Right well I can see why you didn’t want to live here then, and I can see that you clearly don’t want to so bye-“ 

“Tony are you already kicking people out? They haven’t even properly moved in.” came the voice of who Steve could only assume was Pepper Potts.  
She walked in and looked at Steve, eyes widening a little at Peter. She was far prettier in person. Tony was a really lucky guy. It was a bit of a stab in the gut because she reminded him of Peggy. 

“Captain Steven Rogers ma’am.” 

She smiled, “I don’t think there’s any need for such formality seeing as we’ll be neighbours” she said, a quick look at Tony who just shrugged and made for the bar. 

“And who’s this?” she said, leaning to look at Peter.  
Steve opened his mouth to say something but Peter seemed to want to handle this, pointing at himself. “Pee-tah.” And then pointing at Steve, “Stee!” He said, smiling and clapping his hands together-something he’d gotten used to doing at the end of most of his sentences. Unfortunately that also meant he unconsciously threw some of his magic webbing (which Steve still needed to check with Coulson on-he’d been steadily avoiding him since his rejection at the meeting). It then stuck his hands together. 

Pepper looked a little wary, “Is that…normal?” 

Steve shook his head, taking Peter’s hands and gently pulling them apart, wiping the webbing off. “He’s a spider baby, it’s as normal as you can get. No stop clapping Peter!” He said, grabbing the two hands as they made for contact again. 

“Wait wait wait-Spider Baby? Did I hear that correctly?” Tony joined them at the front. 

“Yup, his Dad was doing research into insects, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about him would you?” He looked at Tony carefully. Tony was all scienc-ey right? 

“Uh no can’t say that I have, Pepper’ll show you to your room,” with that he walked past Steve and into the elevator. Which totally meant he did. Steve made a mental note to check with him later. Seriously did they all think he was some stupid army puppet? 

“Is he always like-“ 

“You get used to it.” She said, smile straining a little. “Come on, I think Peter’s getting restless.” She waited for the elevator to come back from the ground floor. 

Steve thought they were getting rooms assigned. Not entire floors. It was way bigger than his apartment-with a gym, two bedrooms and a lounge. And woah would you look at those shower fittings!  
The elevator had opened straight into the lounge and he had set Peter down in order to move the bags into the room. Peter ran around the sofas and then found the nearest climbable wall and gone straight to mapping it. 

“He does that a lot too, sorry.” Steve said with a nervous laugh. Ms.Pott-well Pepper, just smiled and watched as Peter climbed the whole room before falling back into Steve’s arms. 

“Well I’m glad you like it and I’m sure Tony will be too, now I have Tony's work to get back to so I’ll see you later Steve.” She left a set of keys on the coffee table in the lounge and walked back into the elevator. 

By the time he’d finished unpacking his stuff and spent even longer fixing Peter’s, the lunch bell from Peter’s stomach rang and they went up. He knew Dr.Banner had already been staying there so he expected to bump into him but he wasn’t sure about the others. 

In retrospect he guessed it wouldn’t be too bad living here. He knew he had been selfish and that as the leader of the team he was doing a very poor job of leading them. If Peter hadn’t miraculously and thankfully appeared in his life, he wouldn’t have declined. It was really a concern for Peter’s safety, but Natasha had convinced him that Peter would be safer here by graphically describing the many ways a villain could infiltrate his flat and kill them both. One of them somehow involved a cucumber.  
He’s always been proud of his decision making skills but and normally when he gives his final answer, it’s set in concrete. He didn’t feel he would regret this decision. Besides, maybe if they got close, they could all help with Peter. Though Steve had a feeling he was probably going to play super possessive parent until he decided it was safe. There was also a part of Steve that yearned company, being alone for so long can only do harm to a person’s mind. Which, he supposed, was probably why he hadn’t been thrown off by this bizarre situation like other people might have. 

He knew it was best to start letting Peter go off on his own and actually walk to places rather than get carried, but considering this house was full of super tech advances and hidden panels, Peter was probably safer on his hip. He found some vegetables in the fridge (he honestly thought Tony woudn’t keep any) and cut them up in a bowl for Peter to eat.  
But sometimes he forgets how fast Peter really is and as he set him down on the floor the boy was off and onto the ceiling in under a minute. He sighed, “Peter come down from there.” 

“No.” Ah, that was the other word he favoured. 

“Peter please come down from there?” 

“No!” He was giggling now. 

“Fine then you won’t get any food.” 

“Don’t wan anee!” 

“Hey Cap who’re you talking to-Holy shit why is there a kid on our ceiling?” 

Peter and Steve both turned to look at the kitchen doorway where Clint had just entered. 

“Language, Agent Barton and this is Peter, Peter say hello to the nice man.” 

“Hewo!” Then he pointed at himself and said “Pee-tah!” followed by an accusing finger at Clint. 

“He wants to know your name.” 

“Oh…uh hey I’m Clint…and that’s to you too Cap none of this Agent business I’m not Coulson” He sounded a little confused, “When did we get a kid?”  
“Since this morning when Peter and I moved in.” 

“Oh wait he’s _yours_?” He sounded surprised. Why does everyone always sound so surprised? 

“Yes and he’s why I thought I wouldn’t be able to come live with you guys but uh…here I am.” He shrugged. 

“Uh not being rude here or anything but where’s his Mom?” 

“He’s…uhm…adopted? SHIELD gave him to me.”

“SHIELD _gave_ you a baby?” 

“His parents died and he needs the time and patience of someone who isn’t human apparently.” 

“I can see that because uh…babies don’t normally climb and hang of ceilings right?” 

Oh here comes the spider story again. “His dad dealt with bug genetics and injected Peter with them for some reason then their lab exploded and now I have Spider Baby.” Peter waved, hearing his nickname. 

“….r-ight…” Just as he thought life couldn’t get any weirder. Well, correction, life couldn’t get any weirder after being controlled by a god, an alien invasion and moving in with Stark. 

“I hope he’s not going to be any trouble. It’s just…well he started out as a mission but I guess now we’re sorta bonded.” He smiled like a man in love. And then Peter threw a web at his head. “Oh yeah, he does that too.” 

“He can throw webs!? That’s so awesome. I think we’ve got a future recruit here.” Clint sat opposite Peter on the table. Peter, the total attention hog, started to climb the wall again. Steve on the other hand, froze at the last sentence. He hadn’t thought about that. Peter technically possessed super powers so there wouldn’t be any question about him /not/ using them for justice…but still, that’s probably the last thing he’d want for his son. Not because he doesn’t want him to be doing something noble like saving lives but because of all the guilt and regret it came with. He didn't want Peter to go through what he's been-what he's seen. 

“Hey Hey Cap you wanna set us on fire or something?” He’d been so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn’t even realised he’d put the gas on.  
“Huh? Oh! Sorry, just thinking…” He said, trying to ignore his hands shaking. When had that happened? Oh god he was becoming the doting worried parent. (Captain America’s sap levels up to 50%) 

Clint sat down but he was still clearly concerned. 

“Stee?” Peter pulled at the hem of his trousers. Apparently he’d noticed it too. He scooped Peter up, “It’s nothing-hey you still haven’t eaten your vegetables! Wait where did they go? Did you just force Uncle Clint to eat them for you?” 

“What? No no the kid ate them I swear!” Smiling a little at “Uncle Clint” 

“I still wonder how you’re an agent with lying skills that bad.” Natasha walked into the kitchen. 

“Hey! I’m off duty, gimme a break.” 

“So Cap, how’s the…situation? Any broken bones?” She smirked a little. 

Steve rolled his eyes, “No I guess you were right.” 

“I always am.” 

Steve smiled and Peter giggled, reaching for Natasha’s hair.  
“Hey hey no Peter we don’t touch people’s things without their permission!” He turned to apologise to Natasha but she cut him off and leaned a little closer, allowing Peter to curl his finger into her red hair. Clint smirked and both of them rolled their eyes. He /would/ take it that way. Steve decided to let him go. He hesitated a little, then slowly eased Peter into her open arms. Peter decided she was important enough to be remembered.

And that’s how Aunty “Asha” and Uncle “Lint” became part of Peter’s broadening family.

But Daddy Stee was still number 1.


	4. Steve throws the first Avengers Pyjama Party and learns a valuable lesson: Never watch Up with an emotional scientist, and equally emotional demigod and two "hardcore" ninja assassins.

_Chapter 4! SCORE. Okay so a word about Thor. I’m hesitating writing in Thor, Jane and Darcy only because I actually haven’t seen the Thor movie. I’m ashamed at myself >.< Damn I’m doing four fanfics at once here. Let’s play a game of how long I can cope with four separate plotlines going through my head before they all congeal into one! Also, did I ever mention I like to write things fast paced? No? Well I do! And this chapter goes REALLY fast. It’s the “get this show on the road” chapter so bear with me please._

“Steve your kid makes me feel old!” Clint complained as he tried to catch Peter. And failed, again.

“Or maybe he’s trying to tell you that the gym’s gathering dust.” Natasha got up on a chair and plucked Peter from the ceiling, tickling his stomach.

Steve chuckled as he watched them play with Peter. The days he’d been dreading had turned into weeks he had supremely enjoyed with introducing Peter to the rest of the Avengers. He seemed to have a sort of attractive force because everyone always wanted to play with him regardless of what they were doing. He was going to grow up to be one really _really_ spoilt child.

What had probably surprised them all is how well Peter had got along with Bruce. “Roose” was who Peter liked to hear stories from (well, second after Steve of course) and he always demanded attention from the scientist. Bruce, to say the least, had been quite astonished.

“You really shouldn’t let him near me. I-I uh don’t want any trouble.”

Steve knew it was taking a big risk, but he trusted that Bruce wouldn’t hurt Peter and…well they were house buddies now, he couldn’t just avoid them forever. Or well, maybe you could as in the case of a certain billionaire.

“You’re not going to hurt him Dr, I promise.” And of course his signature smile with “puppy dog” eyes had sealed the deal. It’d been a good decision in the end as Peter and Bruce got along like…well a house on fire.

Bruce had even managed to get some of his webs to sample and Peter was more than happy to clap for him.

Peter was unbiased in his attention-mostly, and his only favourite was Steve. But whenever someone came to play, he never refused no matter who it was. Even Pepper had got her Peter-fied name of “Pe-pa” and she’d been added to his list of important people. Steve only had to properly introduce him to Thor, who had been called off to business in Asgard. Though he really had no doubts about that, apart from the “keep Mjolnir away from Peter at all costs” talk, he’s sure Peter would love a new climbing frame.  
Of course there was only the question of their solitary benefactor who had buried himself in “work”. Tony had rarely been seen and Steve couldn’t help but feel that was entirely his fault somehow. He intended to make amends.

Well he would’ve, had an alarm not gone off in the middle of the day.Steve had freaked out. Apparently that was their “Assemble” call. Which meant Steve had to find somewhere to keep Peter.

“I’m really sorry to bother you when you’re working Ms.Potts bu-“

“You need somewhere to keep Peter?” She said.

“Uhm yes, would you…?”

“I’d love to watch him!” She walked over and positioned her arms in the way Steve had showed them how to so Peter could drop down into their hold. Peter giggled and waved happily “Pe-pa!”

“Okay Peter I have to go out for a bit, promise you’ll be good? I know you will be.” He kissed his forehead. “Thank you once again.”

She waved him off with her free hand. “It’s my pleasure. Now go save that unfortunate civilian or whatever.”  
__  
“And you needed us here because…?”

“We recorded inhuman movement and high levels of radiation.”

“So someone screwed up testing nuclear power, so what? You dragged us out here for this?”

They were standing outside the remains of the first lab, the second one still miraculously standing.

“Everyone stand down, there’s a possibility the second one might blow.” Steve didn’t like this. There was something really…well off about the whole thing.

Iron Man cheerfully ignored this and said “I’m going to scout inside for this “inhuman movement” watch my back.”

“Iron Man stand down the building could still blow!”

“Cap, I’m pretty sure if they’d wanted to blow the second one up, they’d have done it after the first one which was-oh almost 2 hours ago.” Just for effect, he used his repulsors to fly into the building. Steve grit his teeth. Just when he thought they were beginning to get along. “See? No bo-“

He was cut off by, oh the building blowing up. He knew Tony had tendencies to be moody and all, but this was just unbelievable. Or totally believable, he was still figuring it out. But as Steve watched, the explosion seemed to have taken a different turn. Rather than the parts flying out in an outward action, it seemed to implode, collapsing on itself whilst green gas emerged from the rubble.

And this is why kids when Captain America gives you a command, it’d be common sense to follow it.

“Gas masks. Do we have gas masks? Anyone?” a few agents stirred and ran about to the various stocks, hunting for masks until they’d found them. Steve snapped it on and crouched behind his shield, running towards the ruins. Clint and Natasha were at his side in seconds, Bruce having just completed the transformation. The explosion had set him off. They ran into the building, covering themselves whilst the hulk jumped in, immune to any such gas.

“Tony!” Steve called, maybe if they got a response it would be easier to locate him.

“Captain Rogers?” Came the broken voice of Jarvis.

“Jarvis? Where are you? Is Tony alright?”

“Sir is currently unconscious but we are underneath a rather unfortunately placed lab desk. I don’t know if you can see it. Perhaps if you dig a little further.”

There was a pile of broken concrete and brick where Tony had stood and Steve got onto the pile. The lab desk must have flown from the first lab, pinning Tony to the floor as the concrete and bricks of the entrance buried him in. Which meant the bomb must have been there. Tony’s movement probably set it off.  
It took a large team effort but soon most of the bricks were off and Steve saw the beginnings of the lab desk. They continued and soon enough Tony’s suit was beginning to surface. The Hulk grabbed the remaining bits of rubble and flung them to the side, taking the lab desk in the other hand he smashed it against the wall. Clint whistled. Steve and Natasha grabbed the suit.

“Oh I know that look…I’m guessing Stark has one massive lecture coming to him? This I have to see!”

Steve blinked, “What? Oh no, he has _several_ ” he said with a small grin way too sinister for Captain America.

"You’ve been spending too much time with Natasha.” Cue elbow to Clint’s head.

They finally hauled the heavy suit back to Avengers tower, asking Jarvis for constant updates on Tony’s wellbeing. SHIELD were investigating the gas, luckily the suit’s filters had stopped Tony inhaling any of them.

When they went inside Pepper was already waiting for them with Peter. She looked traumatized. Steve winced, maybe he’d go a little easier on his lecture to Tony. Peter jumped down and ran to Steve. He realised it would be the first time Peter had seen him in his full armour plus shield. Steve had been worried Peter wouldn't be able to cope without seeing Steve for so long since they were barely apart for more than 15 minutes a day, but he seemed to have coped fine. Steve couldn't be more grateful for Pepper.  
Who looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"I'm guessing you saw what happened huh?" Steve grimaced a little. The others had gone back to their floors.

"I know the second building blew, I also know that only Tony would be foolish enough to "scout" in there." She slammed a palm to her head. "I'll go see to him." She left hastily, careful not to show any signs of weakness. Steve had nothing but undying respect for her.

It was nearing 9 when all the Avengers sans Thor and Tony were gathered in the main lounge going about their own business. But to Steve, it felt they were finally becoming more of a team. They were beginning to watch a movie-a Disney one, because even though they were all hardcore superheroes, no one could resist Disney. Or Peter’s face.

They were settling in for Mulan when the elevator pinged open. They were hit by shouts from Tony and Pepper who’d just walked into the lounge, deep in heated argument. They froze when they saw the team. Well Tony froze, Pepper seemed adamant to get her point across. Steve looked warily at Bruce.

“C’mon Pete, Uncle Ruce wants to go to the park and we can’t let him go by himself can we?” Clint picked up Peter and left, the others following him.

Pepper looked to Clint with small appreciation in her eyes whilst Tony gave them all death glares. Steve decided Clint was more sensitive than he claimed to be.

The park was completely empty but Peter loved it anyway. He kept looking back at Steve though, like he knew something was up. He was playing with Clint and Natasha whilst Steve and Bruce sat on the park bench.

“It was bound to happen…” Bruce started.

“What was?”

“Their fight, they were veering towards this for a while. I’m surprised it happened so late actually.”

Steve blinked. “What’re you talking about?”

“My room’s near Tony’s…his walls aren’t as soundproof as they seem.” He said, taking his glasses off.

“What?” Steve knew what he was insinuating, he just hoped they were on the same thread.

“I’ve heard them fighting for months-ever since I moved in actually. Usually Tony just cuts her off or ignores her. This big one’s been coming for a while. I think he’s scared of losing her.”

Steve nodded. He’d be scared of losing such a wonderful woman too. Especially since he’d already lost one.

“Do you think they’ll resolve it?” He asked, hoping so just for Tony’s sake. He didn’t want to imagine how much mental stress it would’ve been for Pepper. It was probably the same when Peggy saw him fly into the Ocean. Pepper had to see Tony risk his life every day.

“I think…I think it’ll be better if they gave each other a little time. Maybe they just aren’t right for each other? Oh what am I even talking about, I’ve never had any sort of romance myself.”

“Ooh bitching session what’d I miss?” Clint sat down next to Steve, throwing his arm over his shoulder, out of breath.

 _“_ Don’t tell me you’re winded already, Peter hasn’t even broken sweat yet.” Natasha was tickling Peter and chased him back to the bench where he jumped onto Steve’s lap.

“Well it’s about Tony and Pepper…” Steve began and Clint sighed.

“Yeah they’ve been kinda rocky lately. Probably since Tony did the most reckless thing ever last year. We don’t really talk about that.” It had been one hell of a fall and Steve felt responsible for it. Still did, in fact.

“Then that’s my fault…I mean I was the one wh-“

“Hey hey don’t blame yourself! It was his choice in the first place.”

The others nodded.

“We should probably head back, it’s getting dark and we don’t want Peter to catch a cold.” Bruce said, voluntarily picking Peter up. They followed him back to the tower.

They piled into the elevator and Steve reached to press for the top floor but Natasha stopped him. "We should give them some privacy." Steve nodded and started to press for their floors. Then Steve had an idea.  
“How about coming to my floor?” They just stared at him. They’d definitely gotten closer in the past weeks, but not _that_ close. “F-For Peter!” Said child looked up and grinned.  
Natasha raised an eyebrow whilst Clint just looked smug. “I don’t see the harm in that…for Peter.”

Steve smiled and invited them in. Soon they were all in blankets sprawled on the few sofas Steve had. Peter sat in Bruce’s lap and Clint was already asleep. With his eyes open.

Natasha was next to him on the couch curled up in Peter’s Avengers blanket. "Up" started to play and Steve smiled as he heard small sniffs from the others. Well okay Thor was outright bawling like a baby but Bruce had little wet lines on his face, Clint's eyes were wet and Natasha was hiding her face under the blanket. Though Steve would never admit it, he had been crying at it too. They were  _never_ watching that movie again. 

And thus marked the first unofficial Avengers Pajama Party which established much laughter and much Disney. And the fact that apparently Peter can stay up way longer than any of them can (despite what Clint may say).

The next day shouldn’t have been such a shock, but Steve didn’t expect it to happen so soon. He was balancing Peter on his hip whilst simultaneously flipping pancakes for all the avengers, making little animal shaped ones for each of them. He decided Clint and Peter would probably like dinosaur ones whilst Bruce and Natasha had little cat ones.

He was finishing up his last stack when Pepper came in.

“Good Morning Ms.Potts-uh, where are you going?” It had slipped out and Steve hoped he hadn't sounded rude.

She looked _terrible_ , eyes red and skin blotchy. The product of many tears, Steve knew all too well. She had suitcases stacked with her and her suit was rumpled, hair straggly. A complete contrast to the usual prim and pristine image she pride herself on.

She gave a small chuckle, a bitter resigned sound of someone who'd given up after a long battle.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t see it coming. You heard us yesterday, I don’t think it could’ve gone on this way…” She sat down on the table and wiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry this is-this is terribly unprofessional of me-oh and in front of Peter! Gosh you must think me such a wreck.”

Steve smiled, “No Ma’am, I just think that you’re strong.” She looked up and smiled through her tears. "It takes a lot to let someone down, especially someone you care about."

She sighed, "Take care of Tony for me."

Steve nodded. Maybe he wouldn't lecture Tony at all.

Peter was fidgeting on Steve, wanting to be let down. He set him on the floor and he ran to Pepper, arms up and waiting for a hug. She picked him up and held him like a child might hold their favourite teddy bear. Peter seemed to have a natural ability to make anyone and everyone feel better with just a simple touch.

She slowly let him go “I have to leave now…I’ll still be around, so I won’t be gone forever Peter.” She said as he started to pout. Steve plucked him from her lap and smiled sadly.

“It’ll be sad to see you go, from the both of us.”

She sighed, “It’s sad to go, but this is much better than living a life full of worry and false commitment.” Her phone beeped, “That’s my ride. Goodbye Steve, bye Peter.” She took  
her bags and left. Peter waved with Steve.

“Bye bye Pe-pah.”

_Oh my gosh that was so difficult to write. Let’s call this “tying up loose ends”. Seriously though, next chapter, the show really starts. Until then!_


	5. Tony Stark is like a hedgehog-prickly on the outside but soft and squidgy on the inside.

_I hope after that horror that was chapter 4 you’re still reading this! Perhaps this is why I shouldn’t write chapters at insane hours when I’m practically half asleep yet somehow hyper. But this one will be better. Mainly because I’m conscious. I think my original aim of 8 chapters will be slightly extended as it’s already chapter 5 and dammit I’d planned for them to be going at it like bunnies by now. Never mind, enjoy the show! I don’t own Alka Seltzer, I just know it’s apparently supposed to work miracles on Hang overs?_

Steve knew what it was like to lose people, and he knew he wasn't alone in that either. So they let Tony stay by himself for another week after the second “incident-we-don’t-talk-about” happened. But Steve now wondered why he’d let them move in the first place. All that it had caused him to do is retreat to his workshop and live like a hermit, as Natasha had put it. Steve just felt like he was overstaying his welcome. Which was zero, to begin with.

When Thor came back, Steve thought Tony would come up and say hello at the least. Then Steve could finally have his full team. But by the time they were all gathered around the dining room table with Lebanese ("living life on the edge"-Clint Barton) take out in honour of Thor’s arrival, there was still no sign of Tony.

That was when they started delegating different members to go talk to him. In the end it just led to a massive argument and then Peter got upset so they stopped. The situation still wasn’t resolved.

\--

Tony groaned and picked his head up from his desk, instantly regretting it. He was surrounded by an avalanche of alcohol bottles and something smelt seriously rancid. He should probably look into that. When he was sober. God it was like college all over again except this time his liquor was quality, not the shady imported absinth he’d had his good fair share of.

“Ugh Jarvis what time is it?” He got up slowly and walked over the mess.

“Nearing eleven o’clock in the morning Sir.”

He groaned again, way too early to be up. “How long have I been down here?”

“Almost two weeks since Ms.Potts departure sir, might I suggest-“

“No.” He knew what was coming anyway. He stumbled towards the little kitchenette he’d installed for himself and located a conveniently placed box of Alka Seltzer. Pepper must’ve placed it there before she’d gone and-no, no don’t think about her. It still hurt. As it would, of course, but he’d been through messy break-ups loads of times! So why did this one hurt so much?

He shook his head and try to contain his focus, shoving the little tablets in the water and watching them fizz. He took a long drink and sighed as it cleared his head a little. The coffee machine had already started courtesy of Jarvis. Dummy whirred past him and he smiled, despite his usual rough attitude towards them. The robot attempted to start clearing up the pile of bottles, the fingers managing only one at a time. The bottles were then dumped with a loud crash into the small bin Tony didn’t remember owning.

“Dummy, Dummy hey hey no we don’t put bottles in there remember? That’s what the blue boxes are for.” He laughed as the bot proceeded to try and locate the blue box. He ran a hand over the strut of the arm. He really was feeling rather sentimental today. “At least you’ll never leave me will you Dummster?” Followed by, “Oh god what has this done to me!?”

He shook it off and sat in front of the same armour hologram he had been staring at for the past few days. He had attempted to make the current mark more durable to explosions. Or implosions, in this case. In the end all he’d done was re-design a new Durability suit with shock absorbers inside. Well he had plenty of time to build that and upgrade the suit now that he needn’t worry about being nagged to do work.

He looked around at his workshop and sighed at the ruins. This was coming to be a terrible start. Bits of the suit lying around from when he’d flung it off, broken glass presumably from some ornate coffee table, tools scattered everywhere, Spider baby spinning webs on the glass door- Wait…what?!

“Jarvis why is there a spider baby on my door?” He said, not wanting to think about the bad job the cleaning crew would have to try and get that gunk off.

“I believe Mr.Parker climbed down from Dr.Banner’s lab.” He rolled his eyes, stupid kid. “Get Steve, I’m too sober to deal with this. If he tries to get in you can use security protocol 01000101.”

“As you wish sir however I must inform you that Captain Rogers is currently preoccupied.”

“Well then the kid can just wait.” He turned around and began to draw up the blue prints for the new suit. It was only about a minute later when an annoying tapping noise started from behind him. Which slowly progressed into a little knocking sound. Which finally grew to all out banging.

He turned around and practically yelled “What?!”.

The kid stopped mid knock and looked up at him, all wide eyed and innocent with genuine hurt in his eyes and oh god was his bottom lip _trembling?_ Well great, he’d made Rogers' kid cry. He walked to the door and sighed.

“Sorry kid, there I apologised you can go now.” The stubborn child just continued to look up at him, refusing to move. “Oh I see how it is, fine stay there! See if I let you in!” He stalked back to his desk and again tried to start on this suit. But in the reflection of the glass he could just see those two huge eyes stare at him from afar. He stared back as if the boy could see him and continued with his work. Stupid children and their stupid innocent eyes and insufferable stubbornness and- Fuck it he couldn’t just leave the kid there. He walked over and opened the door.

“Fine you win this time kid, but only because I don’t want another Cap lecture.” He made to pick him and froze. How did he pick up a child...? Didn’t Steve put Peter on his hip the first time they’d met? He bent a little further, the kid probably wasn’t going to hold onto him anyway so he stood at an awkward angle, awaiting inevitable rejection. Instead Peter let out an impatient noise and put his arms up, clearly demanding to be picked up. Tony put his arms around the kids waist and plucked him up, Peter neatly tucking himself into Tony’s side, two tiny arms grabbing into the material of his t-shirt. He smiled and the boy opened his nearly tooth-less grin. Even he had to admit, that was adorable. What was it national Tony Stark is becoming sentimental day?

He then realised that the workshop probably wasn’t the best place for a-what was he, a three year old? Nonetheless, it was probably too dangerous for the kid to run wild. So basically that meant Tony would have to keep holding onto him until Steve came.Not that he minded. He totally did not say that.

“Jarvis is Cap still “preoccupied”?”

“I believe Captain Rogers is currently looking for Mr.Parker. Shall I inform him of his whereabouts?”

“Uh yeah sure you do that…” He said, sitting down with Spider Baby still staring at him.

“Okay kid you gotta name? Wait can you even talk? Jarvis can he talk?”

“I believe he had expressed vocal qualities, yes.”

“Great so let’s start with the basics, what’s your name?”

“Pee-tah!” The boy chirped, freeing a hand to point to himself. What he did next surprised Tony far more than he’d ever care to admit. Peter frowned and pointed at Tony. “O-Oni!” He exclaimed happily. In Peter’s mind he’d heard a lot of talk about this “oni” person. And daddy Stee seemed to talk about him a lot. And since this new face was the only one he hadn’t seen yet, he must be the Oni.

Tony just stared at the kid. “Okay what the hell how does he know my name?”

“I believe he had heard the others mention you by matter of conversation, and used a process of elimination to reach the conclusion that you are the new face behind the unfamiliar name.”

And now Jarvis was a baby interpreter. Right. He didn't remember programming _that_ function. “Okay yeah Oni works, Oni totally works. Hey are you wearing an Iron Man hoodie?” Peter looked up, he probably didn’t know what he was talking about. How did he not notice that? Actually, who had even dressed him? Couldn’t have been Steve.

“Sir Captain Rogers is approaching.” Tony nodded and turned around just in time to see Steve come out of the elevator. He had the “Worried Angry Disappointed” face on with the formations of a pout. God only knows how that man would bluff in an interrogation. As soon as he reached the doors however, he stopped, his lips extending into a bright smile at seeing Peter on Tony.

“Stee!!!” Peter exclaimed. Why was that child so damn happy all the time? He didn’t remember being half as happy as this as a child. Then again, he had a reason… And he’s pretty sure Captain America made the greatest father in the world. Just like his dad had drilled into his head as a child.

“Um Tony…could I come in?” Steve seemed nervous, arm coming up to rest on his neck, fingers playing with a stray strand of blonde hair.

“Huh? Oh yeah yeah sure, come on in, sorry it’s a mess. Actually not sorry it’s always a mess but hey, cost of being a genius right?” Steve laughed a little. “I hope he hasn’t been any trouble…” He said, looking at Peter. His eyes then settled on Peter’s hoodie and oh god he hadn’t planned on Tony meeting Peter in _that_.

“Honestly? I think you mean it the other way…” Tony said, gesturing to the exposed metal wires behind him. Tony would never admit it, but he actually sort of liked holding Peter. The kid was surprisingly still and very warm. “And who the hell put this on him?” He pointed to the hoodie and Peter looked up, wondering why he was being pointed at.

“Uh…when I ordered his clothes, they were doing an Avengers range so I got him a few, they're really cute, he even has an iron man plushie..." Steve seemed a little awkward.

Tony thought it was utterly adorable. The kid, not Steve. Well Steve was adorable too but-never mind. The day he’d find a little kid, from his team mate no less, endorsing his own franchise. Wow. Brings a whole new sense of pride.

“No it’s cool, I’m sure he has a cap one too right? Wait does he even know who you are?”

“Well he put it together himself actually, he found me holding the shield once and he..uhm..has quite a lot of Captain America merchandise.”

“Wow, smart kid.”

“Yeah, maybe he'll grow up to be a genius philanthropist just like you.”

“You say that as if it’s a good thing.”

“I didn’t think it wasn’t…” Steve smiled and dammit why, why was Steve so nice?! Why couldn’t Tony just hate him like the special snowflake he was.

Peter poked at Tony’s face. “Oni!” “

"Huh? Sorry kid have we been ignoring you?” Peter pointed at the screen that was currently showing the different specs of the Mark 41.

“He wants to see what it is, you’ll have to excuse him…he’s really curious and gets impatient when he doesn’t get his answer.” Tony loved the kid already. He was aware that this was really not how he’d planned things to go when he’d heard about Spider baby, but it was a nice change to the brooding and dull abyss he had confined himself to in the last two weeks.

“Then I’m sure he’ll find this answer more than satisfactory” Any chance to show off his suit was one Tony would gladly take. Even to a two year old kid. “Jarvis bring up the complete working model of the Mark 41” The suit flashed before them and Peter gasped, transfixed by this new amazingness. Tony launched into a long and complex monologue, showing Peter how each part worked and allowing the boy to touch them and open them. Steve stood behind the pair and watched with equal amazement. Tony could practically feel Steve’s smile. When he was sure he’d shown Peter all the details, he turned to give him back to Steve. But Peter refused to leave.

“No! Oniiiii!” Peter practically climbed Tony’s arm. And he froze, what was he supposed to do now? He looked to Steve expecting to see disapproval but instead the man was trying not to laugh.

“Peter I think Tony needs us to leave now, you can come and see him tomorrow. That’s okay right? He can come tomorrow?” Tony looked at the little boy on his arm who smiled his nearly toothless grin.

He swallowed, “Of course you can come back tomorrow.” He said and Peter climbed up and gave him a little hug before reaching out for Steve.

“What do we say to Tony Peter?”

“Tank yew!” He said waving at Tony. He waved back and watched them leave the workshop.

That kid was dangerous, he’d managed to reduce even Tony to sentimental state. But maybe he wasn’t such a bad thing to have around

. __

 

The next day the Avengers were called to the SHIELD headquarters. The scientists there had started an investigation into the lab explosion. Steve was glad, he wanted to be prepared next timesomething like that would happen. They were shown into a room in the HQ.

A woman walked over and extended her hand. “Cynthia Nichols I’m going to be helping you on this investigation.  She was very beautiful, shoulder length brown hair styled in curls and clear green eyes. He took the extended hand with a smile.

“The thing is, there haven’t only been two explosions, there have been several. We’ve been tracking each one to see if there are any similarities. So far the biggest clue is that the lab explosions have all imploded as they did on the last mission. Mr.Stark, I do hope you have recovered from that, it was rather painstaking to watch.” Tony grunted and looked away. “Anyway, there’s been an uncanny amount of lab explosions in general and now we’re sure they’re linked. We’re doing our best to find out what took place in those labs to cause them to be targeted.” She finished and smiled.

Tony was looking at his tablet, presumably already upadated with all the info that SHIELD had, Natasha and Clint didn’t seem to trust Cynthia and Bruce was looking at one of the screens. Steve thought she was doing an excellent job.

“And what about the first explosion?” The one they’d got Peter from.

Cynthia shifted, “Well we don’t have very much info on that one since there were no survivors so I can only assume that it was a top secret base.” Tony suddenly jerked next to Steve, he’d probably found something.

But evidently wasn’t willing to share it.

“I’ll keep you updated on the situation Captain, but that’s all we have for now.” She smiled sweetly, Natasha thought she was suspicious. They then left one by one, satisfied or not by their findings on the various computers surrounding them. Tony had left first, he probably already knew everything. Bruce and Clint followed and Natasha shortly after them. Steve was the last to go. As he stepped into the abandoned SHIELD hallway, Cynthia gently tapped him on the arm.

“Oh, Ms.Nichols...”

“Please, I’m Cynthia, I was wondering if perhaps you would join me for a cup of coffee sometime?” She tilted her head and bit her lip, blinking very fast. Steve was nervous again, like he was in his old body, no idea what to say or do.

“Uhm-yes, that would be…arrangeable I suppose.” He said, with a small smile.

“Wonderful, How does tomorrow evening sound? Shall I meet you here?”

“Y-yes, of course.”

“Great! See you then Captain.” She winked and walked in the other direction. Steve blushed. It probably wasn’t a date. Just coffee. With friends. That was a thing now wasn’t it?

He went back to the tower to find Clint and Natasha had already collected Peter from Pepper’s office. She was still Peter’s minder even though she didn’t live in the tower anymore.

“What took you so long Cap?”

“Gettin’ cosy with Ms.Nichols I bet.” Clint waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“No she just asked me out for Coffee…”

“Ooh Cap’s got a date! Look at you, getting out there. I thought I’d never see the day! Look at your Dad Peter, he’s getting his young man swag back.” Peter just clapped and threw a web at something. Steve blushed and walked back to his floor. A real date. Well nothing wrong with getting back out for a bit. Besides, maybe Peter needed a mom.


	6. Cap's just not that into you

_Chapter 6 guys! I finally did it. And here’s to the most chapters I’ve ever written for a fanfiction before. Okay notes-lots of mentions of Peggy/Steve, Cap trying to find his sexuality and a nice slap._

Steve checked himself in the mirror; he was wearing his leather jacket, button down and khakis-something he’d been quite known for wearing. Tony was looking after Peter for the evening-which had come as a surprise to everyone, but this time he actually migrated to the lounge where he was continuously harrowed for being such an antisocial. Even Peter had given him a little hit around the head. When asked he replied Aunty Asha told him to do it.

“You are not wearing that.”

Steve turned around, speak of the devil Natasha was standing in the doorway looking…well disgusted was the best word for it.

“What do you mean?”

“You want to look like you’re her father taking her out for a little meal? No, this is a date Steve, you need to wear date clothes.”

He blushed, “It’s not a-“

“Yes, it is, now shut up and let me find you something to wear.” She disappeared and commanded him to stay in his bedroom. Half an hour later (Steve had got dressed way ahead of time) she resurfaced with a pair of dark jeans, a white shirt and a blazer. All Steve could think about is where she got them.

“Where did yo-“

“Not important. Put them on.” He sort of hoped they weren’t Clint’s. But then again, his clothes wouldn’t fit Steve. Maybe they were Thor’s. No, they smelled new.  
He was in soldier mode and immediately did as she asked. The shirt and jacket were fine it’s just…the jeans were awfully tight (maybe they were Clint’s after all). It didn’t surprise him anymore; every time he’d tried to buy some jeans they were always too tight. The pants of his uniform were too tight. Even his tracksuit bottoms were too tight. It was like the universe was trying to tell him something. Maybe his backside was too big? Well he didn’t think it was that large…maybe his backside is just not the average human sized backside. That was always a possibility considering the miracles the serum had done to his proportions.

After about five minutes of relentlessly putting the jeans on, he walked back to Natasha and turned. He went red again as she raised an eyebrow and gave a very appreciative look.

“My work here is done.” She sauntered out and Steve heard the elevator go up.

At around 6pm he was waiting nervously in the lounge with the others, playing twister with Peter. Except he couldn’t play because…well you know about the backside problem.

Jarvis informed them that there was a Ms.Nichols for Captain Rogers and Steve blushed as everyone wolf whistled when he left.

“Ah Captain Roger-wow, you look fantastic.” She looked genuinely impressed. She was sporting a rather low cut black dress and painfully high heels with a lot of glitzy jewelry to match.

“You look very beautiful too Ms.Nic-Cynthia.”

She smiled and took his arm. “C’mon, I know this great place where we can eat.” She led him to her car and they were soon speeding through the streets to a nice little Italian place.

It seemed she had reserved a table and they were shown to one in a thankfully secluded area of the restaurant. Steve was still unsure whether she was thinking of this being a date. But the foot that ran up his leg confirmed all his suspicions.

But here’s where it go complicated. As they ate, he looked over to her and really observed her. As with most guys they would find it difficult not to look at her chest, Steve found he was able to look anywhere. It had been something that was playing on his mind a lot-his sexuality.

Yes he’d liked Peggy but to call it love? Well that was different. He’d thought about getting women-of course he had, his best friend was Bucky for Pete’s sake. But as soon as the war had started, he was so hell bent on getting in he’d barely given “girlfriends” a moment’s notice. Well, during the dancing monkey period he’d certainly had his flings but he never felt anything from them. That was when it started-was he really attracted to women? Would he ever be? He realised one of the reasons he’d liked Peggy is because she wasn’t stereotypically feminine. She was butch, rough, a little more like the guys. And now with Cynthia, he realised it wasn’t going to work. He could try, it was his first proper relationship after all. Maybe he would like women once properly exposed to them.  
Dinner had been relatively silent on Steve’s part-mostly because he’d been thinking. But Cynthia could talk for America if she wanted to. She went on and on about everything and nothing. In a way she was like Tony, but Tony’s talk was a lot more fun and animated, more dedicated and less…sensual.  
They finished with desert and headed back to the tower. Steve felt it would be too personal to invite her in so he didn’t, just calmly walking out of the car.  
“That was a lovely dinner, thank you.” He said politely.  
“It was my pleasure, sleep well Captain.” She drove off and he went up to his floor.  
Peter was already asleep when he got inside and Steve gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before running his hands through the boy’s soft hair.

“Love you Pete.” He said quietly and headed back to his own room.  
\--  
Cynthia and Steve’s relationship continued through the month. Every time he had a date Natasha would miraculously make clothes appear. But as a result of this, he spent very little time with Peter.  
And even if they were progressing through the relationship, Steve had been getting closer and closer to the realisation that…he really wasn’t interested in her. She was nice sure, but she wasn’t someone who he could visualise loving. In times of desperation and despair…she wasn’t someone he wanted to turn to.  
By the fifth date he felt he really needed to break this off. The other four had been pleasant, just venturing to restaurants, her talking about herself…constantly. Steve just went along to try new food for free because she insisted on showing Steve she could pay by herself and had money. But to be honest, Steve really wasn’t that amazed by wealth anymore. He lived with Tony Stark for Pete’s sake. Literally.

They were in the garage again and when Steve got out of the car, he noticed she followed.

“I was thinking we could take it…one step further today, Captain.” She said, voice turning low. Ah, it was always “Captain”. Never Steve. He knew what she meant, but here’s the advantage of being frozen in ice for 70 years-you can bullshit your way through anything.

“Of course, I haven’t introduced you to Peter.”

She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. “Who?”

Steve smiled, he had mentioned it, but you can imagine the amount of attention she had been paying.

“My son.” He said and made for the elevator, her following behind him. She was a little taken aback, well she would be.

“I didn’t know you had children, where’s the mother?”

“Uh…” What did he say, he’s adopted? “I don’t know, he's adopted.” He confessed, not wanting to take it further.

They eased into a painful silence. “I had a good time, I’ve never had Lebanese food before.” He said, trying to break the tension. It was, of course, a lie. 

“So did I, well not every girl gets to say she’s dating Captain America, but I always knew I was one of the lucky ones.” Then Steve realised another difference between her and Peggy. She wanted him for the Captain America fame and glory-he could see it now, if they took this relationship further, she would endorse their publicity. She would tell everyone that she was dating Captain America, sorry who’s Steven Rogers? Peggy liked Steve. Steve who thought he was boring and good for nothing with blinding determination. She didn’t like the Captain. And for that reason Steve had liked her. Which was also the reason he liked the rest of the Avengers because they weren’t blinded by his fame or position because they’d done the same remarkable things he had, and much more. His thoughts were broken when Steve felt a hand drag down his back and onto his behind. He froze. The fingers were still there and suddenly the elevator surged upwards at alarming speed and the hand was retreated as Cynthia grabbed onto the sides for support. She looked to Steve, questioning and clearly quite annoyed.

“Yeah it uh does that sometimes-not a glitch, because this place doesn’t have those.” Steve smiled, he had a feeling a certain force of nature named Jarvis was behind it.  
The elevator doors parted and he walked into his lounge with a smile. It was so good to be home.

“Steve? Hey you’re back early!” It was Tony.

“STEE!” Steve walked in and froze. Where Steve’s sofas used to be stood a master blanket fort, constructed of all the pillows and duvets Steve owned and with such precision only a genius like Tony could have engineered it. Steve’s heart practically melted (Captain America sap levels up to 60%). Inside, Peter was sitting on Tony’s lap and they were sharing a plate of pizza. Tony looked like he was annoyed and trying to hide his content but Peter was clearly having the time of his life.  
“Hey there Pete!” He reached over and picked him up. Tony followed and got out of the fort. “How did you know he loved Blanket forts so much?”

“Genius intuition.” He grinned. Cynthia coughed from where she was standing, still inside the elevator. Steve walked to her with Peter on his hip and Tony joined him.  
“Oh! Excuse me, Cynthia, meet Peter.” Peter grinned and waved at her. But instead of the usual fond smile people got when they met him, her eyes narrowed and her face contorted into a scowl. That was new, did she not like children? Wait she hadn’t said anything about that…Steve searched his memory through all the irrelevant things she’d said for any mention of children.

Then she laughed, bitter and resentful.

“Oh how, How could I have been so stupid?!” She turned around and started pacing erratically.Steve looked at Tony who shrugged with a vague gesture.  
“To think Captain America would actually date me. Ha!” Then she gasped and turned with an accusing finger at Steve. “Ooh you’re such a bloody CHEAT, you took a girl out when you already have a son with another man! How could you? Captain America, you are the biggest JERK I’ve ever met and we are OVER.” She stepped up to him and slapped him hard across the cheek, the sound resonating around the living room. She turned and yelled as she clutched her hand. Tip for the future guys: Don't hit Steve unless you're willing to break your hand. "Wai-" Tony grabbed Steve's arm, shaking his head. "It's not worth it." Cynthia limped back into the elevator, practically punching at the now mysteriously disappearing button panel on the wall. It suddenly shot down and they saw her crash onto the floor before the doors closed.  
Steve grinned, “Thanks Jarvis.” He took the silence for a “I have absolutely no clue what you’re talking about Captain Rogers”.  
A little hand pressed against his cheek and he looked down to see Peter frowning at the slowly disappearing red hand-print. “I’m okay Pete, I heal fast, see?” Peter pouted, still clearly concerned. Steve smiled and placed his hand on top of Peter's.   
“Y’know, he sort of does look like us.” Tony said, leaning over and smiling at Peter too.  
Steve sputtered, “W-what?!”  
“Yeah, see hair and brains-no offence, from me, Personality and eyes from you.”  
Steve chuckled, “You realise he’s not _actually_ our child right?”  
Tony smirked, “Oh Steve, I thought you would buy me dinner first.”  
Steve froze and blushed. Only Tony would take that implication.  
“Well my babysitting shift’s over and I gotta do some real work now, Night Pete, see ya Cap.”  
“Nigh Oni!” Peter waved wildly.  
“Nigh’, oh and Cap? Nice jeans.” He winked and the doors closed, leaving Steve to redden once more.  
\--  
The next day they were called back to the lab and Steve had to endure hours of painful glaring from the other side of the room. He felt he should go talk to her, to clear things up. But when he tried she just lifted her hand and walked away shaking her head. "I don't want to hear it..." so Steve left it at that. Then he had to tell everyone why Cynthia had been death staring him in the lab. They found it hilarious. Clint was howling, Bruce gave him an apologetic smile, Thor clapped him on the back and wished him better luck with other maidens. Natasha didn’t say anything but Steve didn’t like the glint in her eyes. Tony was unaffected and retreated to the workshop.  
He thought that would be the last he’d see of Tony (because to be honest, the whole situation was rather awkward) but Peter still demanded to see him. He /adored/ Tony and his workshop.   
So Steve found himself in front of the glass doors and braced himself for the drum shattering noise he was sure to be greeted with.  
“Hey Tony? Tony?” Jarvis cut the volume and Steve smiled. If he could, he would give Jarvis the biggest hug anyone could ever witness. That man, er, AI? Was a lifesaver.  
Today Tony was actually listening to something nice, Steve thought he’d heard it before. A dutch sort of name, Van Hellsing? Van Heusen? Van Halen. That was it.He navigated his way through the disarray of objects until he found Tony in one of his cars surrounded by his usual display of holographs.  
“And this is work then Tony?” He jumped and turned around.  
“Jesus when did you become such a ninja?”  
“You missed ninja training day in one of your “I can hold out for two weeks” gigs.”  
His jaw dropped and Steve rolled his eyes. “Sarcasm and jokes weren’t invented in the 1970s either you know,” Peter made an impatient noise, demanding not to be forgotten.  
“Oh yeah Pete wanted to come see you, are you busy?”  
“Nope, just designing a new set of arrows for Clint, touch sensitive gun for Natasha and upgrading my suits. Not busy at all really.”  
Steve raised his eyebrow.  
“I guess I can squeeze Peter in.” The boy struggled and Steve let him down and he climbed into the car, refusing help from either of them. Tony gently clapped Peter’s back and Steve smiled, proud of his little boy.They made a good pair, Steve thought, as he saw them sat side by side.   
“Thanks Tony, I’ll just ah-go now.” He made to leave.  
“Hey you can uhm, stay if you want to.” Tony called after him.  
“Sure I won’t cramp your style? Wouldn’t want an old man like me around.”  
“I think I can make a compromise.” Steve smiled and sat in the forgotten sofa near the edge of the room, all awkwardness between them gone.   
He barely noticed the time going until he checked it and realised that Peter should really get into bed. They had been in the car the whole afternoon whilst Steve had worked on a tablet (namely looking things up to get everyone for Christmas. It was September and shops were just starting to put things out. Steve often paused to think about how fast time had gone by. He’d got Peter around May, moved into the Tower end July and now it was September. This year had really been quite a highlight of his life.  
“Captain Rogers I believe it's approaching 9 o’clock.” Ah, Peter’s bedtime.  
“Thank you Jarvis, okay Pete I think you’ve wasted enough of Tony’s time you need to sleep now.” He walked over and tried to pick Peter up  
“Nooooo! Don’t wanna!”  
“Come on Pete, you can come back tomorrow.”  
“No. Not sweepy.” He was betrayed by the yawn that came from his mouth.  
“I think you are…”  
“No! wanna stay with Oni!” He whined.  
“Fine, but if you don’t sleep now then Oni won’t let you come back tomorrow-Tony don’t you dare encourage him.” Said man was again trying to hold back a laugh.   
Peter sulked and let Steve take him up. He was asleep as soon as he hit the covers and Steve chuckled as he gave him his goodnight kiss. “Love you Pete.”  
Over the next few weeks Steve became a sort of semi-permanent feature in Tony’s workshop. At first it was just him coming down every so often but soon they got into a pattern. Steve would spend most of the day with the others, either sparring with Natasha, playing video games with Clint, reading and being nerdy with Bruce (He’s not the dumb blonde people think he is) or catching up on culture with Thor. That was always interesting, once when Tony had actually bothered to come up for something to eat (for fear of being dragged out by Steve and Natasha via Peter’s pleading puppy face that he so copied from Steve) he’d seen them sitting on the couch looking mortified with their heads in their hands.  
“What’s up with you guys, you didn’t finally find MTV did you?”  
“We just encountered what has acclaimed to "bestselling" amongst all Midgardian Literature…I do not understand how you people enjoy this.”  
“How do you think I feel? I thought we’d progressed.”  
Tony looked over to where the Twilight Saga and 50 shades of grey were resting on the table. It was too hilarious. They glared in his direction,  
“You find amusement in our depression?” Thor looked seriously annoyed and Tony took that as a sign to run back, he was clutching his side from laughing so much by the time he’d got down. Steve had decided they were going to have to consult Jarvis before buying books ever again.  
Peter would either be with him or with someone else and in that way he got to spend time with his son as well as giving him a broad spectrum of experiences. Then, when Peter was tucked in at 9, Steve would lie with him, hugging the little boy to his chest before going down to see Tony at 10. They would then spend the whole night together, either talking or watching a movie, sometimes Steve would sketch whilst Tony worked. It was an easy atmosphere. Steve loved Tony’s workshop, (well in reality he loved the whole tower) but also because he now had a fan. He knew about Dummy and U and Butterfingers, and the latter two showed very little interest in him but Dummy always “accidentally” rolled past when he was sketching. After a while he became Steve’s wordless critic, Steve would take the jerks of his arms as “yes” and “no” after the first time he did something the robot clearly thought looked terrible, he found his hair being yanked on. Tony felt violated and left out. Steve thought it was like they had two children as Peter often chased Dummy around or vice versa. All in all, every day he was more thankful he was blessed with Peter and his weird  & wonderful family.

Unfortunately it seems perfection comes with great cost.


	7. Captain Exhaustion vs the World

Okay wow Chapter 7! It’s been a while sorry ;a; but I’ve got a plan for the next two chapter so they’ll be up soon! For now, please enjoy this chapter!

\--

Tony woke up with his head on the floor and feet propped on a work bench. How on earth had he got there? Actually, he probably didn’t want to know the answer to that. With slow movements he hauled himself up, checking for signs of potential carnage. When no threat presented itself, he immediately activated his primal instinct of locating a working coffee machine.

Steve hadn’t come down yesterday. He would never admit it but Steve had become a soothing constant in his life, something good to lean on. He’d been there when Pepper had returned for the first time in months to talk to Tony face to face; he’d been there when Tony almost drowned himself in whiskey; he’d been there when Tony’d brought home some sleazy woman he was too drunk to remember now-and then had the courtesy to drive her home. It had become such a regular thing he hardly thought twice about it. Some days Peter would join them and despite what he’d originally thought, he enjoyed having the kid around (only because Peter was totally a genius I mean who understands mechanics at the age of 2.5? He almost rivalled Tony himself). And then Steve hadn’t come down yesterday, and Tony was confused and a little angry. Well in retrospect he should have expected it-Steve had a life too. God only knows how when he never leaves the tower but Tony was pretty sure he did.

Besides they all left in the end, there was always that nagging thought in his mind that it was too good to be true. He wanted to believe that Steve being the great noble Captain would have changed things, but who was he kidding? Who wanted to spend time with a fuck up like him anyway? (He totally did not say that). And now his coffee was cold. See kids, brooding is bad.

“Sir, Mr Parker is requesting your presence.”

 “What now? It’s too early for my presence…”

“Sir I believe it is an emergency.”

“Why can’t Steve do it?” He hoped it wasn’t one of those kid things. It was an unsaid agreement that those things were left to Steve.  

“Sir…it appears Captain Rogers is unconscious.” Only Jarvis could say that sounding perfectly calm.

Well that changed things. “What?! Are you sure he’s not /asleep/?”

“Positive sir, I suggest you hurry. Mr Parker is quite distressed.”

Oh snap Peter! The poor kid probably didn’t even know what was going on. He probably thought Steve was dead. Hopefully Steve wasn’t dead but…how does the super soldier become _unconscious?!_ He ran to the elevator, hitting the emergency panel that would take him straight to the top floor in under 5 seconds. Oh yes, I bet you wish you lived in Stark Tower now. Jokes aside, the familiar ping sounded as he reached the communal lounge on the top and he ran into the room.  

Peter was sitting on…well presumably Steve, but he was covered in webbing. And very much unconscious. Peter was red and sniffly and oh god he really could not do crying children.

“Oni!! S-stee!” he pointed miserably and dammit the kid just looked so defeated. Screw cleanliness, he picked up the kid and held him to his chest like he’d seen Steve do.

“Hey hey don’t cry, uh…Stee’s just taking a nap see? He’ll be up soon okay? Don’t worry; everything’s going to be fine.” He tried to ignore the wet patch where Peter’s face was, but the shaking child was unnerving him just a little. He sat down carefully next to Steve’s body and started to check it. Face-okay his mouth was closed and he wasn’t breathing. Never a good sign. Next, hands-no pulse. Shit. The radiator Steve had for a body was also cold. Deathly cold. In any other situation Tony would have been more than happy to have Steve’s body all to himself. Well, any other situation that wasn’t this dire of course.

“Jarvis get SHIELD, we’ll need to get Steve to a hospital. Where’s the rest of the team?”

“I believe Agents Romanov and Agent Barton are at a hotel for the night whilst Dr Banner is at a genetics conference in Boston. Mr Odinson is visiting his girlfriend in California.”

“Shit, oh uh I mean shoot…sorry Pete. Okay it’s just us then. How fast can we get Steve out of here?”

“Agent Coulson is on his way already sir.”

“Brilliant.” He was probably going to have to suffer the Coulson death glare of doom. Followed by the Hill glare of pure annoyance. Followed by the Nick Fury “I’m tired of your shit” sigh and unnerving one-eyed glare.  Steve better vouch for him after this.

\--

10 minutes of distracting Peter and staring at Steve’s unmoving body (do you have any idea how creepy that is?!) Coulson burst into the lounge with a team of medics. He slowly took his sunglasses of and-yep, there it was, everyone’s favourite death glare secured perfectly in place.

“Stark what the hell did you do!?”

“Excuse you! I didn’t _do_ anything. I found him like that.”

“Yes because Captain America is the perfectly likely candidate for passing out in strange places. I seem to recall your personal record being laden with such incidences.”

“And I seem to recall me going public with my personal reform and please control your temper agent there is a child present.” He turned Peter and-bless him-the kid proper _glared_  at Coulson. “He recognises the common enemy. I have taught him well.”

“This isn’t funny Stark; we need to know what happened to the Captain. This could be an external threat.” He walked over and observed Steve’s body, hand out as if to touch him but retracted at the last minute.

“Please in this tower? I des-“

“Designed the security system yourself, I know. Still doesn’t mean that there isn’t going to be a chink in the armour.”

“What-oh that is _low_. Was that a jab at my Iron Man armour? Well I don’t see you kitted out with anything even half as fancy.”

“Yes and I don’t see you helping this situation.” Coulson gave him another long sigh and went back to intimidating the medical team. They struggled to get Steve onto the stretcher (he’s only 120 kg of muscle) and Peter was making impatient noises, trying to reach for Steve. Tony had to try his best to restrain him, though really he wanted to check on Steve too. One of the medics peeled away the webbing, looking a little alarmed, but he went back to blank SHIELD puppet within seconds, nothing short of perfect military precision. Probably felt the power of Coulson’s glare. It was actually quite hilarious. And that’s exactly what Tony needed in this situation. Hilarious.  Because he had a crying spider baby, an unconscious Steve and a Coulson to handle. Not to mention what he would have to tell the rest of the team. God Forbid Pepper ever find out.

They left as quickly as they had arrived, without a word and with no mention of any further action. Coulson said there would be a team meeting the next day and to stay in the tower until then but let’s face it, since when has Tony ever followed orders?

Tony thought he was taking everything rather well considering he hated anything to do with medics and hospitals and people not moving. It was probably something to do with staying strong for Peter. He looked down at the deathly still child in his arms. He’d noticed now that Peter became eerily quiet whenever anything was unsettled. He didn’t cry much after the initial tears, and then he was just silence. He hugged Peter tighter, murmuring reassurances in his ear. It was only when he’d sat down and Peter was miraculously asleep on his lap that the weight of the whole thing dawned on him. What if Steve never got up? What if this was an external threat?

“Jarvis did we have any strange occurrences last night?”

“Not to my knowledge sir but I ran some scans on Captain Rogers’ body and I believe it may have been exhaustion.”

“Exhaustion?! Well yeah he does tend to push it at the gym. The price one pays for a body like that”

“Of course Sir, also that he’s only been sleeping an average of 30-40 minutes a week.”

And then he realised it. Steve spent all his nights with Tony and all his day with the team…of course he never got any sleep. Oh god, that meant that this was his entire fault. He’d been so caught up in having Steve around he’d barely given a single thought to Steve’s well-being.

“Sir?”

“Get the car, I’m going to SHIELD.”

\--

Steve jerked awake, looking around. The light burned his eyes and the shapes were blurry. He tried to move and struggled against what felt like hard restrains. He must have been captured. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on the couch with Peter-oh god, Peter! He tried to move again but his body started to ache. That wasn’t supposed to happen.  

“Be still fair captain! You need to preserve your energy.” Who was that? Thor? How did he end up here? Where even was he?

“Somehow I don’t think shouting at him is going to calm him down.” Was that Clint? Were all the Avengers here? Had he been captured? Where was Peter?!

He opened his mouth and croaked, trying to form the words that refused to surface.

“Stay still Captain, I wouldn’t recommend moving, it will only tire you further.” Coulson.

“Yeah because some sadistic bastard decided it would be a good idea to tie him to the bed.” Tony!

“I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“I wouldn’t put it past _you_  Stark.”

“P-Peet-“ He finally managed to squeeze the word out, staring helplessly at the ceiling.

“Mr.Parker is perfectly fine, if only I could say the same about you.”

“W-what happened?” He’d regained the ability to talk it seemed. “Why am I tied up?”

“So that you don’t tire yourself out jackass.” He frowned.

“Captain you passed out from exhaustion.”

"....what?!...”

"From the data we've been given via Jarvis it seems you've barely been sleeping an hour a week. Combine that with your physical output everyday with less time to replenish your energy and the odds cancel out." 

"I see...."

“Yes, needless to say we are all very disappointed in you.”

“Uhm…sorry?”

“You better be.” Natasha’s icy glare pierced through the congregation of men. Then he spotted Peter asleep on a highchair next to Steve’s bed. He smiled and tried to reach out-then remembered he was freaking tied up.

“You can set me free now.”

“No I don’t think I can, see you need to sleep and since it’s been proved you’re incapable of doing so by yourself, I’ve had to use other methods.”

Steve groaned and set his head back on the pillow. “Fine, but am I allowed up for a bit now?”

“Yeah, we made you lunch!”

“The team have agreed to watch you whilst you are out of action. Good day captain Rogers and recover soon.” With that, Coulson left whilst Clint adjusted Steve’s bed. Natasha sat on his bed with a rather intimidating glare.

“So…how am I eating?”

“I’m feeding you.”

“…oh…”

“Open up, “She smirked and began to spoon what was probably porridge at some point into his mouth.

Tony laughed and sat working on his tablet; Thor read a magazine and seemed thoroughly confused with the pictures whilst Bruce studied the medical reports taped to Steve’s bed. Peter was still miraculously asleep. Clint decided it would be a good idea to read to Steve since he can’t hold the book himself. What was his book of choice? Vampire Lesbian Erotica.

“Clint! Not in front of Peter!” Steve looked absolutely scandaled. 

“Chill Cap he’s asleep! Now shh, we’re about to get to the good bit.”  Steve might have spat out his food once or twice.

Eventually everyone left, leaving Steve, Tony and Peter in the room. Peter had woken up and demanded to be set on Steve’s lap. He made Natasha proud by slapping Steve’s face (only lightly) and crossed his arms saying “bad Stee!”. It was so adorable (and he totally didn’t notice Tony taking pictures from the corner).   

“So, looks like the most maternal avenger can’t take care of himself. I’m glad Peter survived.”

Steve chuckled. “That’s what I told them and they still gave him to me.” He looked over to where the boy was staring intently at a comic book. He sighed and sat back, staring at the ceiling. “I guess I’m not as invulnerable as I thought.”

“Well even the most powerful men need a break. I know, ironic coming from me.”

“Nah, just wish you’d practice what you preach.”

“Hey I do practice what I preach! I preach being awesome, and look at me now.”

Steve smiled. “How long am I in here for?”

“Until you get your strength back probably.”

“Yeah, sorry I didn’t come down yesterday.”

“Well you couldn’t have, you were in here.”

“What?! How long was I out?”

“2…maybe 3 days?”

“Gosh. I had no idea. Sorry.”

“Yeah you better be, almost gave Pete over here a mini heart attack.”

Steve felt extremely guilty. He would have to treat Peter to something when they got back.

“Thanks, for staying with me and all.”

“It’s nothing…not like I had anything better to do.” He laughed a little, but Steve cold tell Tony was a bit off. Probably shock, he concluded and closed his eyes, soon to be consumed by lure of sweet slumber.

\--

It was at sometime between feeding Peter and watching Steve sleep that Tony realised he had a massive problem. And not just the one in his pants (cue groan here).

He might be in love with Steve. This wasn’t some sort of little first timey crush (Tony Stark did not do those). This was full on…uhm…goey stuff. See he thought he'd got that with Pepper...but wow it didn't fee like this. It’d been like…like…Grease. Like the summer Sandy spent with Danny.  All happy and smiley. Apparently Steve had affected him so much he was comparing his life to Grease.

But now what would Tony do? He’d never done the whole romancing thing-the _proper_ romancing thing, mind you- before and every time he tried (with Pepper) it failed miserably. Anyone else remember the strawberry incident?

And then there was Peter. Now that he was properly considering the whole “relationship with Steve thing” and possibly the “holy shit I might be gay” issue…he also had to factor in the other terms. Peter didn’t seem to have a problem with him. But he wasn’t cut from the parenting cloth. There was no way he’d be a decent parent to Peter-if it ever went that far. But he preferred not to think to optimistically. Steve would probably reject him really courteously-like any gentleman would. With promises of a better future, someone else. “You deserve better” sort of thing. Yeah, except he really didn’t. Pepper had been pushing it…Steve. Well, Steve was astronomical. 

But no, there was no incident-no version of this story where Tony ending up with Steve was a good thing. Looks like he’d just do what he does best- appreciate what he can’t have from a safe distance.

No matter how much it hurt.

\--

“Good to have you back buddy!” Clint gave Steve a bro hug, whilst Thor just inhaled him.

“It is so good that you are in our company once more great Captain!”

“Yeah it’s good to be back, uh I missed you too pal…Thor…You can let go of me now. Thor…THOR I CAN’T BREATHE!” Steve’s yell was muffled by the blocks of muscle he was currently being held captive in.

To celebrate his return, they decided it was time for another Avengers pyjama party and they were all crashed out in Steve's lounge again. Well, everyone except Tony. Ayone else feeling the deja vu? 

“Where’s Tony guys?”

Clint, Natasha and Bruce shared a quick look before saying “Oh had work to finish off for Pepper. He’ll be up later.”

Steve nodded, a little sceptical, but nonetheless let it go. Tony didn't _have_ to come up if he didn't want to.

Peter happily sat in Steve’s lap, relieved to be with him once more. In fact, Steve was now full time “daddy”. Peter felt proud, he was sitting in his daddy’s lap.

Today they-sorry Bruce had picked “Rise of the Guardians”. They then spent the entire movie bickering over who was who and one by one dropped off to sleep.

Steve smiled looking at the sleeping bodies around him; it was so good to be home.

\--

There was a reason Agent Coulson was Fury's right hand man-he got things done fast and thorough; the next day after Steve had come back, everyone entered the kitchen to find a new notice tacked to the fridge.

“Steve’s sleep schedule? What the hell is this?”

“The Mona Lisa, what the hell do you think it is Barton?”

“It is a schedule from which Captain Rogers must follow with military precision as to prevent something like that happening again.” Coulson walked calmly into the kitchen just as Tony jumped and landed on the floor

“Jesus Christ where did you come from?”

“The door, Stark.”

“But you don’t live here!”

“No I don’t, thankfully, I was sent here to make sure Captain Rogers gets this.” He pointed to the sheet of paper.

“Make sure I get what?” Steve walked in, hair still tousled from last night’s pyjama party with a yawning Peter on his hip. “Morning Agent Coulson, you’ve met Peter I believe?”

“Not formally no.”

“Oh, Pete, this is Agent Coulson-say hi.” Peter turned to look at where the agent was standing, before scowling and burying his head back into Steve’s chest.

Tony smirked. "That's my boy." But then he hesitated and left the kitchen quietly. Steve frowned a little before composing himself and smiling at the Agent. 

“Sorry he’s a little…tired I guess. Can I help you with anything?”

“No I need you to help yourself-follow this sheet of paper. It has been carefully calibrated so you have adequate time with Peter, then he-being a 3 year old, must also have an afternoon nap as I’m sure you’re aware and you will join him. Dinner is at 8:30 sharp for an appropriate bed time of 9 o’clock. Am I understood?”

Steve looked like he’d just been told he was pregnant. Which is to say, completely shocked and slightly disgusted.

“Uhm…I guess…do I _h_ _ave_  to follow this?”

“Yes, no arguments and no exceptions.” His Bluetooth beeped and he checked his watch. “Now if you don’t have any questions I have to get going. Good day. Stay good, and follow the schedule!” with that Agent Coulson left, leaving Steve to stare at the now offensive piece of paper.

“He can be a bit harsh but I guess he means for the best at heart…if he has one…” Steve just shook his head and started on breakfast, leaving Clint to hang upside down from the ceiling.

The sleep schedule was extremely annoying, but Steve had to-very reluctantly-admit it was doing him good. He started to feel a lot more like himself and the exhaustion had almost completely gone. By the fourth week he was back to the gym (and reluctantly handed Peter over to someone else. Probably best not to have the boy watch him kick ass just as yet. Didn't want to give him ideas!) But all in all it had just fallen back into his favourite old routine. 

Except for the part where a certain Tony bloody Stark was completely ignoring him. No seriously, he wouldn’t even  _look_  at Steve.  If he was honest he felt angry and just a little bit hurt. If he thinks he could just throw their friendship away without a second thought, act as if nothing had ever gone on between them...well Steve was pretty miffed. 

But if he was being perfectly honest with himself…it was more than friendship. That much was obvious. From the times they found themselves leaning on each other on the sofa or watching a movie or sharing jokes. It was more than a platonic buddy-pal thing.

He also realised he was going into dangerous territory. But that’s what he does right? It’s all in the job description. He’d already considered all sides to it and decided that…yes Tony wouldn’t be a bad idea. Whereas most people would deem him completely unfit for being a parent…Steve thought he was perfect for Peter.  He’d witnessed Tony’s ugly days and helped him see through them. He’d seen how tender and affectionate he could be. And really, if you’ve managed to get that high in Cap’s books, I don’t know what could be better.

The only problem was Tony was stubborn. And if he realised Steve’s feelings towards him…god only knows how horrible the dejection would be. And it would be low and stupid to use Peter as the bait.

Looked like he'd have to play it out from a distance. Or do nothing. That usually (not really) worked. 

“Daddy!” Steve looked up to see Peter running towards him, flowers in his hand. It had been almost two weeks after his release from the hospital and Steve & Peter finally had an afternoon to themselves. So Steve had chosen to take Peter to the park and watched the little boy play as he delved into the deeper sections of his mind.

“Wow are those flowers for me? Oh thank you.” He laughed as Peter climbed him and started to thread the flowers into Steve’s short hair. He knew he must look ridiculous but….who could say no to _that_  face?  He was happy they managed to spend some time together and hugged the boy closer before Peter demanded to be let free.

Steve watched Peter run to the fountain, chasing birds around it. Whatever century it is, that never gets old.

He sat with a goofy smile on his face. The sun was setting, giving the sky a beautiful warm orange, red and pink hue. Steve closed his eyes and took in all the senses around him-the sound of Peter’s laughing, the smell of flowers and grass. He was so caught up he barely noticed the burst of air as something ran past him. He dodged the body quickly and opened his eyes in shock. In front of him was a large green…thing. It was tall, scaly and even had a tail. Steve stared, gobsmacked, for quite a while (just what on earth /was/ it? He hoped it wasn't hostile) . Then he realised where it was running. Straight for Peter. He cursed himself for being so slow and ran after it, only to hear the boy’s scream as the thing grabbed his son and ran off in another direction.

The green dinosaur turned out of the park, Steve desperately trying to catch up to it. From what he could tell it had large sturdy legs-longer and more powerful strides. It turned onto a street full of crowded people. The thing pushed past them, in many cases physically yanking people out of his way. Steve could hear Peter’s cries. Curse super hearing too. He dodged the gathering crowds which lead to a vast distance between him and the kidnapper. With a little force he was finally free of the bottleneck build up and spotted the lizard slipping into an alleyway. The unmistakable hum of a helicopter entered his periphery as he bolted after it.  The lizard was still running but Steve was sure he'd got him. Just a little harder-a little faster, he was so close-so desperately close! The helicopter hum was still there, but it had stopped above him and too late did he realise that it was waiting for the lizard. He watched in anguish as a rope ladder was lowered in front of the lizard, just in time for it to grab on and be carried away. Taking Peter with it.

"DADDY!!" Was the last thing Steve heard as they were bundled into the helicopter. He could only watch as it flew away into the sunset. Like the twisted ending of some horror movie.

Steve yelled and kicked a trashcan, crumpling the metal against the wall. He fell to his knees, his head in his hands. The sun was still out, the city doused in orange. Steve looked up. It was raining. /p>

\--

Whilst Steve and Peter were in the park, everyone back at Avengers tower were treated by another visit from Agent Coulson.

“Son of Coul! It is a pleasure to see you again!” Thor was happily attacking a box of rainbow cookies when the agent entered through the door.

“Nice to see you too Thor, is Captain Rogers around?” He seemed calm enough, but there was a definite edge in the way he stood and spoke.

“Nay, he and the young spider warrior have gone for a walk in the park. They will return shortly.”

“Agent Coulson, what brings you here?” Natasha entered the kitchen.

“We have reason to believe Captain Rogers-and Mr.Parker’s, identities are at a risk.”

“What do you mean?” Natasha was deadly serious, as was Thor next to her.

Agent Coulson opened his mouth to speak but Clint beat him to it, calling from the living room.

“Uh guys, I think you should see this…”

They entered the spacious lounge just as the 5 o’clock news came on.

“And in other stories it seems that even with a team of superheroes, Stark tower is still the source of many rumours. But this time Tony is only half the story. It seems we might have finally uncovered the secret identity of Captain America aka Steven G Rogers. But not only that, we’ve been tipped by a trusty source-his ex girlfriend, Ms.Cynthia Nichols- that our dear all American soul has a child. And not just any child, Tony Stark’s child, with mutant spider powers! Don't believe it? See for yourself in the CCTV footage we've uncovered of Mr.Rogers and his child Peter. More on that after the break." 

Clint turned the TV off and turned to the others. They were statues, deathly silent. "Well they took it well..." 

“What do we do?”

“We need to tell them. Dealing with the media is not easy. I’ll talk to Agent Hill when I get back.”

“Wait Agent you said you already knew about this…how?”

“We had a check done on Ms.Nichols-turns out she was faking the whole thing. Since she also went…about with the Captain, she knew his secret identity. She also came to the tower so we have reason to presume that she might tell a few tales. It has happened before; we were trying our best to make sure it didn’t happen again.”

“And Steve must’ve trusted her thinking she had already been SHIELD checked! I knew she was fishy.” Clint said, narrowing his eyes at the TV just as Bruce ambled into the lounge. 

“I take it you all heard the big news?” He grimaced. “I don’t even want to know what Tony’s going to say…poor Steve.” The others nodded as Bruce sat with them.

An hour passed whilst they continued to discuss how they were going to tell the two and what they were going to do about it when the elevator pinged and Steve stumbled into the room. Everyone looked up-like a pack of meerkats having heard the snap of a twig. Natasha gave them a look as if to say “act normal” and they relaxed, only Clint continuing in meerkat mode.

“Hey Steve how was the park? I bet Peter had a good time! Where is the little guy anyway?” Clint said with a nervous laugh, looking to the ceiling.  

Steve walked to where they were all sitting and turned to face them, his cheeks stained with the paths of tears and his eyes red-rimmed. “P-peter’s been kidnapped…”

 --

DUN DUN DUNN! I hope this was a decent(ish) update! See you next time when all will (mostly) be revealed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	8. The Abduction starring Steve Rogers

SASC8

The plot! At last! Ah I feel I’ve rushed it a bit but I needed to get all of this done. Also apologies for the cliff hanger in the last chapter-I really like cliff hangers, but I’ll try and tone it down in this chapter. 

\--

There was an eerie silence in Stark Tower. No one spoke, no one laughed…it was deathly. Steve sat and moped a lot, trying his best to find out any information. Unfortunately, without much luck. Plus they still had the media to face, with new rumours about “Steve and Tony’s lovechild” cropping up every day.

No one had seen Tony, and he certainly wasn’t letting anyone into his workshop. Again.  It seemed like this was an on-going process. He really was like a hedgehog-he’d let you get close enough, and just when you started to overstep the boundary-even by a fraction, he’d close up.

But Steve had other things to worry about. Natasha and Bruce were always comforting him, trying their best to investigate.

It was a saving grace when SHIELD contacted them telling them to meet. Steve knew it was his chance to get some decent info.

So there they all were, sitting in conference room 3 at SHIELD HQ, some fidgeting with anticipation, others still as statues with tension.

“We haven’t been completely honest with you.” Agent Hill said as she regarded each of the Avengers. Steve and Tony were by far the worst, despite their best attempts to conceal any show of emotion.

“Well isn’t that just the understatement of the year.” Tony sneered, looking away. Hill ignored it and played with the tablet in front of her.

“As you may or may not know, we have established a link between the trend of exploding labs-including the first one where we found Mr Parker.” She paused letting it set in before continuing. “Each of these labs were involved in what we know to be called the “Bug Squad” project.  Richard Parker, Peter’s <i>real</i> father, was head of this operation along with another Dr Curt Connors.” With a quick finger flick, the information appeared on tablets in front of each of the members.

“They were breeding the DNA of insects with humans. Unfortunately, most of these were failures. We believe the continuous destruction of these labs is being used to eradicate all evidence of the project a-“

“Do you know who it is?”

“Yes Captain Rogers, if you would let me finish. We suspect that it’s Dr Connors. He is the only one of the whole team who was not discovered in the ruins. His DNA, however, has constantly been present at the other sites.”

“Inhuman activity…” Tony said quietly. 

Steve looked up, “That green...lizard thing that took Peter…that could be Connors.”  

“It seems likely that it was.”

“Is there any way we can track him?”

“Not currently however our agents are on it and we will keep you posted as to how our investigation is going.”

“Well fuck that because he’s my son and I have the right to know where he is and what’s being done to rescue him.”

“With all due respect…Steve, the boy is not yours.”

“Well he is now and no matter what you say I’m going to get him back.” The sound of wood cracking followed as Steve banged his fist a little /too/ hard against the table. Hill didn’t even flinch.

“Captain this is an exclusive SHIELD mission which requires stealth and espionage-neither of which you are qualified for.”

“Oh yeah, well how do I know you’ll get him back? How do I know you won’t put your own interests as a priority?”

“Captain rest assured we have your best interests at heart. If it makes you feel better, Agent Coulson is overseeing the operation. This concludes our meeting, you are to stay put and await further instruction.” She nodded and left the room.

“So they’re just going to make us stay put and count dust while they go and do fuck all!” Steve snapped, breaking another bit of the table of. Thor patted his shoulder gently. Bruce looked half on his way to hulking out.

“Well that’s what they said last time before we ignored them and saved the world…”  

Steve smiled at Bruce through the tears he was trying to hold back, a new hope sparkling in his eyes.

“But we don’t have any information.”

“Nothing that can’t be prevented.”

“Transport.”

“We have a jet.”

“So what’s the plan?” Clint smiled, they were all ready for this. Months of no crime fighting had bored them, it was time for a new challenge.

“We’re going to get Peter back.” Steve said, smiling for the first time in two days. The others joined, like excited teenagers about to do something thrilling.

“Well you guys have fun on your little adventure, I’m going to go pick up the remnants of my life.” Tony was back on his phone, making his way out of the room.

“What? Tony aren’t you going to help us get Peter back?”

He snorted. “No, he’s not <i>my</i> son. I’m not the one who lost him.”

Steve got up. “Tony he’s part of the team. Our family. And so are you. I think you owe it to the rest of the team and yourself-if not to me or to Peter, to come.”

“I don’t owe it to anyone Cap. And since when was I part of this dysfunctional family anyway? I don’t remember agreeing to this. So you can go off and save the kid and I’ll just keep the tower nice and warm for when you get back.” He walked out of the room and slammed the door.  Steve growled and sat back inside the chair. Conclusion-Steve is deathly scary when angry.

“Sorry Steve-I’ll work on hi-“

“Just don’t bother. He made his intentions clear. He doesn’t deserve to join us anyway.” Steve stormed out of the room, slamming the door equally as hard. The others watched as it fell off its hinges and crumpled to the floor. Brilliant.

\--

Curt Connors, now transformed back to human from lizard form, entered the abandoned building. The labs were still intact and functional, albeit a little dusty. Peter had gone still in his arms, not making a sound after screaming the entire helicopter ride back.

“So you got the kid?”

“Yes, it better be the right one.”

“Yes, I’m positive.” Cynthia Nichols smiled as Peter glared up at her. “Hello Peter.”

The boy remained silent.

“Okay cage him up, let’s wait for our guest to arrive so we can start the party!” She giggled and walked away, a malicious smile on her face. The room was suddenly illuminated, displaying various pieces of medical machinery, glass boxes full of insects and cages with tranquilized children sleeping inside them-all from a variety of ages too.

Curt opened up the nearest empty one and shoved the sniffing boy inside. Peter pressed himself against the corner of the cage, glaring.

“No use looking angry kid, you’re not getting out of here.”

Peter turned away as the door closed and cried silently into the material of his t-shirt. He hoped Daddy would be here with his Uncles and aunty. He wanted to go home.

\--

Steve stood on the balcony, staring at the New York skyline. He knew it was stupid, but he was looking for a sign-any sign, that might tell him where Peter was. It really was all his fault, he shouldn’t have let Peter play so far. If only he hadn’t been so caught up in his own selfish thoughts…well it was too late now. He didn’t even want to think about what they might be doing to him.

The sound of another set of footsteps stopped his train of thought. Steve turned only to see Tony walk onto the balcony. He turned and met Steve’s gaze. They looked at each other for what must have been minutes, neither making any movement or leading onto any movement. Their faces were blank, with little to no emotion. Tony opened his mouth, as if to speak just as Clint came out onto the balcony. 

“Hey Cap! Good news-oh, am I disturbing something?” He stopped and looked between the two.

Tony turned away and Steve looked to Clint. “No, I was just coming inside anyway.” He didn’t want to know what Tony was going to say anyway.

“Well great because we think we might know where Peter is!”

“Really?! That’s great!” tension seemed to ooze out of Steve’s muscles as he ran back inside with Clint.

Tony watched Steve’s retreating back, shards of guilt piercing his stomach. He was too proud to say he was sorry, to say he wanted to come because he genuinely felt worried that Peter was gone. He would miss the boy. He…he practically loved him as much as Steve did.

Tony knew he’d gone too far with what he’d said. It had been a selfish jerky move. A very selfish move. But in his defence he was trying to protect Steve and Peter from himself.

Okay that was a lie, he was being a coward. And instead of just facing his fear he avoided it. And now Peter had been kidnapped. He wanted so badly to go with them now, to rescue the boy, to make sure he was alright and, touch wood, alive. But they probably didn’t want him. Looks like he’d have to apologise the long way around. Or just move back to Malibu. That was always an option.

Tony went back inside, the lounge was clear and his tablet notified him the jet was being fired up. Looks like they did find him after all.

“Sir are you not accompanying the team for Mr.Parker’s rescue?”

“Nah, I’ve got, uhm, other work to do.”

“I see. Very well sir.”

Tony walked down to his workshop, careful to avoid any un-intentional run ins with the team. Which worked, until he found Bruce waiting for him. He walked straight past him into the room.

“Jet’s on the floor below this one.”

“I know, just came to check on you.”

“And I’m fine so you can leave.”

“Are you Tony? Are you “fine”? I think you should trust me when I say I’m pretty sure you’re not “fine”.”

“And I think you should trust me when I say I’m pretty sure I am!”

“Alright Tony. Sure you’re not gonna come?”

He hesitated, before steeling himself, falling into his usual demeanour. “Yeah pfft not my problem. Just make sure the kid stays this time.” He noticed Bruce shake his head from the corner of his eye.

“Let us know what time you want us out. I’ll tell the others to pack.” He left without another word, going to meet the others in the jet. Tony threw his spanner against the wall. That wasn’t what he’d meant at all…Bruce knew that. He’d obviously said that on purpose.

“Sir are you quite al-“

“I’m FINE Jarvis…just….fine…”

\--

Using the information SHIELD had given them, and Jarvis,; wellll, mainly Jarvis; they’d managed to track down the last of five labs where the bug squad research project was being held. This is where they believed Peter would have been held. Unfortunately all the information on the actual project was classified and Jarvis couldn’t actively hack it without Tony’s command or approval. And no one felt like asking him to do it anyway so they took the co-ordinates and boarded the jet.

The jet made flew across the skyline at a blinding speed, Jarvis leading them.

“We are approaching the destination, are Captain Rogers and Agents Romanov and Barton ready to depart?”

“Damn straight.”

“Okay here’s the plan, we go in, we locate Peter and kill the lizard without SHIELD catching us.”

“Got it.”

“Okay let’s go.”

They parachuted near building and slunk in. The front door was open, but Natasha said it was too obvious and picked the lock off the service door at the back. It was silent, not the single movement of bird or bug could be heard.

They walked into a dimly lit hallway. Natasha was at the front, gun out and ready; Steve was in the middle behind his shield and Clint was at the back, bow strung.

They made their way through the winding hallway. Steve suddenly heard voices in the distance. “Guys stop, I hear voices.”

“What? I don’t hear any-“

“Superhearing Hawkeye.” 

“Is it Peter’s?”

“No it’s…Cynthia’s!” Steve’s eyes widened in horror. It all made sense. Horrid, wicked sense.

“That little bitch!”

“Come on, it’s no use standing her. Let’s get closer so we can hear the conversation.”

They walked along the corridor, where a small pool of light leaked out of a set of double doors.

“Well here’s the dna for the successful mutation.”

“But the others had also been successful before they were taken by shield.”

“What?! How come you never told me!? We could have had an ARMY by now.” Steve could hear the distinct sound of machinery but there was something else…like the scuttering of ants on a tiled floor. Probably some other sort of machine.

“They were taken before I had the chance to check but the results showed their success and comparing it to Mr.Parker’s DNA it must have been successful. However he is still, by far, more powerful and resilient in his handicap of being crossed with spiders.”

 “I am aware. And that is why we are going to use him to create even more powerful mutants. Richard burned his research, but we can always better what we already know.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Well then, get to it! And remember to use a decent amount of Mr.Parker’s DNA, we wouldn’t want it to go waste…” she laughed, malicious and manic.  Steve shot up, Clint and Natasha with him, and charged into the room.

“Not on my watch.” He stood with his shield at the ready, battle position.Cynthia was up on a podium with her back to the door facing a wall full of cages. There was a monstrosity of a machine in the corner with two chambers. The lizard was next to Cynthia, a little human resemblance still there. So it was Curt Connors.Steve was anxious to go and kill Connors right away, but then he paused as he noticed the cage next to Connors’ foot. Peter was still inside it. Steve thought the worst, was he…no. He couldn’t even say it let alone think it.  

“Tranquilized” Natasha whispered, soothing Steve’s suspicions.

Cynthia turned around and Steve gasped as he saw millions of long, thin brown sticks protrude from her abdomen, each moving to their own accord. He looked up to her face where two feelers had grown either side of her mouth. That must have been the rustling sound he had heard earlier.

“Steve~” she crooned. “So good to see you, so sorry we didn’t quite work out. But it’s okay, I got what I needed in the end. All’s well that ends well, correct?”

“Cynthia, I’m only going to say this once, Let.Peter.Go.”

“Aha, such a typical line Steve, where is the originality these days?”

“I said-“

“Well you see I can’t do that. I need his luscious DNA to inject into these helpless souls over here.” Cynthia pointed to the slowly waking children in the cages. “They’re only half done you see, full mutant, but lacking that little extra-oomph. Let me tell you a little story,  Richard Parker-your son’s father, injected his son with enhanced spider DNA to see if it could cure Peter’s cystic fibrosis. Which, evidently, it did. So he continued this research and started the bug squad project-using insect DNA to repair us. I was paralysed after a car accident that killed my mother so I volunteered myself as soon as I could. I would be perfect, I would be normal again. Dr.Parker injected me with this serum, saying it would take it away. It was painful, horribly painful-as I’m sure Steve you’re familiar with. But the next day I woke up an-and I could move my legs! but then I felt something I wasn’t supposed to and I found these-“ she gestured to the sticks. “On my chest. They told me it’d go away, it wasn’t supposed to happen. They’d messed up. And I wasn’t the only one, kids and adults around me started developing insect characteristics. It got to the point where doctors were too scared to enter the ward. But it wasn’t the mistake that got me, it was the way they treated us. I had become a mutant, an outcast. Even more than I already was. So I ran away-it’s all I could do. I bound my abdomen, hoping to look human again. To feel human again. A few months later I heard someone blew up the lab where I had been held. Of course I went to investigate-that’s when I met Mr.Connors. He’d lost his arm and was trying to use lizard protein repair to re-grow it. Dr.Parker had promised it would work and injected him with the miracle lizard juice. It wasn’t complete, and now Curt is confined to half-lizard half human state forever. We had our revenge-oh yes we did. We blew up each research facility, killing all the scientists working on it. We were going to save the mutants, going to have us all collaborate together but we couldn’t get them out. The authorities got their fist. You know what happened to them Captain? Do you? The precious people you so valiantly fight for-they took them…” her voice shook. “and they KILLED THEM. Each and every one. And why? Because they were different. They were weird, they were strange. They didn’t mean any harm…they weren’t hurting nobody. And yet they were ruthlessly massacred. But now, now we will have our revenge. We are the superior race. I’ve learned to love this body because I don’t want to be human. We are-were, despicable creatures. But now, us mutants…we are stronger, we are better, we are the superior race. We deserve to rule, not be ruled. You may fight for the humans, but at the end of the day you’re not one of them either? None of you are. You’re different as well, and sooner or later, they’re going to turn on you too.”

“Well, that was an inspiring story and I’m sure your autobiography will be a new York bestseller but I believe you have my son.” A familiar voice echoed from the door. Cynthia turned and snarled just as Iron Man walked in, Thor behind him. Steve’s heart jumped for joy.

“Well this is a sloppy kidnap.” He said, joining the others.

“Iron Man, what a pleasure. I’m so glad the whole team is here so we can show the world the power of the mutants.”

Steve gripped his shield just as Cynthia clapped her hands. Two doors opened behind her and out poured a group of half-insect, half human creatures.

“I thought she said they were all dead!” Clint yelled, grabbing his arrows.

“Well of course most of them are dead…but we decided to create a few of our own.”

There were some with huge hairy legs, pincers, stingers, wings…you name it they had it. One was a cockroach who Thor was effectively trying to squish with his hammer. Tony was repulsor blasting the others. Bruce had joined them, fully hulked and ready to smash some bug guts. Natasha was hitting several of them at once with a variety of moves whilst Clint took them out with his arrows. Which left Steve. He ran through the bulk of the fight, using his shield to hit them off. The podium was in sight and he ran to it. Cynthia was programming the machine with a vial of Peter’s blood next to her. Steve was getting angrier and angrier by the second. He reached the podium and made a beeline for Cynthia when a large claw sliced his back.

Connors was behind him, full reptilian and foaming at the mouth. Steve raised his shield and slammed it on Connors’ face as they started a full fist fight. The lizard was sloppy in his movements, heavy hands flying with no grace and aim. Steve dodged them, spin-kicking him from behind and standing on his tail. Connors’ hissed and bit into Steve’s shoulder. He could feel the sharp teeth sinking into his skin. With a final burst of strength he hauled his shield up and hit the Lizard’s head and mouth, knocking out a tooth. His shoulder was released and Steve limped backwards, landing next to Peter’s cage. The boy was slowly waking up, his eyes opening.

“D-daddy?” He moved and rubbed his eyes.

“Hey Pete, hey buddy I’m going to get you out of there okay? Just hang on alright? I promise I’ll get you out of here Pete.”

The boy nodded, before his face turned to one of utter horror. Steve could see the reflection of a row of pearly jagged teeth in Peter’s eyes and turned around, lashing at the lizard’s legs with his free arm. He needed to find something sharp fast. He pulled and the lizard was floored. Steve picked it up and threw it down, shaking the podium and sending a quake through the building. Another throw, his shoulder was burning and screaming at him to stop but he had to do this. The floor started to crack and green goo trickled from various points on the lizard. It had stopped moving and Steve took the opportunity to grab his shield and assess the others’ situation. And locate a decent weapon. Something as simple as that would not hold him down for long. He looked around, expecting to see rows of dead or unconscious mutants. But they were all still fighting, tireless and powerful.

Natasha looked near collapse and Clint was fishing his arrows out of people he’d shot. Tony was zooming around the room and Thor was attempting to blast people whilst being climbed on.

“You see what I mean Steve?” Cynthia was behind him, her stomach legs ticking his back. “We can’t be kept down. Every time you cut us we will comeback just the same. Impossible to counter.”

“Yeah but that’s where you’re wrong.” Tony landed behind her, next to Steve. “I’m sure you know about the Antidote?”

“The a-antidote.” She narrowed her eyes. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“Oh only the chemical Richard developed to stop mutants like you from existing. Coincidentally what we found the bombs at the labs to be composed off. Apparently it’s potent enough to kill people. Unfortunately for you, we found it and mass produced it. See you on the other side of hell, bitch.” He blasted off just as SHIELD agents burst into to the room. Steve ran and grabbed Peter’s cage, making his way to the door as the room erupted in green gas.

The other Avengers were already gone and he knew he had to get to the door. He dodged the collapsing mutants and agents, desperate to reach the gap. He held Peter’s cage above him, far from the gas. It burned his insides as he made the mistake of inhaling. But he had to keep going.

“Steve! Over here! Throw Peter and Run!” He saw Clint at the door. It was still quite a distance to throw…but he would have to take this chance.

“What?! That’ll never work!”

“Just trust me I can catch him! You’ll never make it in time.”

Steve hesitated and thought it through. He had faith in Clint’s abilities.

“Okay Pete Uncle Clint’s gonna catch you okay? Just hold on…” He stopped and chucked the cage, Peter screaming inside it. Clint jumped and caught it mid-air, landing on Bruce who caught them both. The gas was still burning his lungs but Steve smiled and started to run again when something grabbed him from behind.

“Oh no you don’t, if I can’t have Peter’s DNA, I guess I can have YOURS!” The Lizard had him in a death grip, with Cynthia next to him. Steve could feel his head lightening as he inhaled the gas.

“STEVE!”

“DADDY!”

People were shouting his name, but the noises blurred and Steve blacked out, feeling the hard ground beneath him as he fell.

\--

I lied. Cliffhanger. BUT YOU KNOW HE’S GOING TO BE OKAY I’m not that depressing.

Also…I can’t write fight scenes. At all. God help me this might suck.

 

 


	9. Peter and the Avengers-Christmas time is here!

So this is the feelings one.Yay. This will wrap up the plot quite nicely. So I’m pretty sure this is going to go into 11 chapters now guys. The end is in sight. There is light at the end of this tunnel. I am going to warn you now this chapter is MEGA long. Like every other one is roughly 2-3k. This one is bordering 10. BUT IT’S ALL GOOD I SWEAR read all of it you will not regret it (hopefully).

Oh quickly-does anyone have a massive thing where Pepper can’t be shipped with anyone? And does no one like OCs if they’re minor and just mentioned? No mary sues XD (I can’t stand OCs unless they add to the plot in some way)

\--

“Okay what went so horribly wrong that you sissies had to pull me out of my vacation?!” Fury was once again behind his desk in a hawaiin flower shirt, shorts and sunhat.

“We n-needed cl-clarification to run this mission, s-sir.” One of the younger shield agents said. He’d heard about the terrifying one-eyed glare and had tried his best to stay as far away from it as possible.

Fury rolled the dreadful eye. “And what good did that do? Are the avengers safe?”

“Yes sir.”

“Did anyone die?”

“No sir.”

“Then you could’ve fucking handled it yourself! Well I’m back now anyway, get me Coulson and Hill.” He collapsed into the plush leather chair his wife had insisted he bought for his office. The whole vacation thing had been her idea in the first place “you work too hard! Take a break! Let those kids handle it for a bit!” and then he finds out labs have exploded, there are mutants and Steve’s kid got kidnapped. This place needed him back. Chantelle was not going to be happy.

“Sir you called.” Hill and Coulson entered.

“I have never been more happy to see you two. Fill me in, what’s been going on?”

“Sir I sent you a-“

“I read that, what else has been going on?”

The two agents looked between each other. “Sir did you have news coverage where you were?”

“No…” He looked suspicious.

Hill nodded to Coulson, who took a deep breath.

“Captain America’s identity has been revealed.”

“What!? What in the good god’s name has been going on!?”

“Sir before we realised Ms.Nichols…motives, she had been in a romantic relationship with the Captain.”

He put his head in his hands. “What else? I’m gonna need those blood pressure tablets…”

“A statement will be released soon, Stark and the captain are going to tell us what they intend to say on the subject.”

“God help us all, what does Stark have to do with this?”

“Ms.Nichols informed them that Peter was their child.”

“And how are they taking this?”

“Remarkably well…”

“Alright, so start from the top...”  

“Her motives were simple, she was on the original team with Mr.Parker-the former. His creations were perfect but they were slow and he did not wish to classify any further details. She used volunteers and injected them with her own version with quite…terrifying results. Most of her experiments were killed. Mr.Parker’s, however, were all by far more developed. They were also mostly children. We have managed to save all of them.”

“She also used the “antidote” or anti-mutant drug to blow up each facility. It seems the authorities were onto her and she needed to get rid of the evidence. So she killed the other scientists, the mutants and destroyed all records of the experiments.”

“And now where is she?”

“Detention ward with the Lizard. We now leave it to you to decide what we do next. Good day director.” They were both anxious to leave. He had taken everything a little too well, with almost no swearing. That vacation seemed to have done him some good.

But his mind was made up. He was _never_ leaving SHIELD again.

\--

Steve woke up, thrashing and jerking in his bed. There was green everywhere, the sound of a fight, multiple explosion.  He couldn’t breathe, his lungs were burning, blood was coming out of his mouth. Peter, he had to save Peter! He was so close to the door-

“Captain! Captain calm down!” Someone was touching him. He continued to jerk until the explosions and screams stopped, replaced by the hum of electricity. Hospital? He looked up and straight into the eyes of Agent Coulson. He opened his mouth and inhaled deeply, relishing the taste of fresh and unalderated air. He winced as the cold air hit his hot throat. It was like a sandy desert with acid coating each grain. His shoulder started throbbing where he'd been bitten. At least he wasn't tied to a bed this time. And  he wasn’t alone either, a quick scan both sides showed that he was in the middle of five beds; Clint and Natasha on his right; Tony and Bruce on his left.  

“Captain, glad to see you’re awake.” Coulson said in his usual unemotive voice, however his eyes showed worry and concern. Steve knew that was all the care he needed.

“W-what ha-happened?” He rasped, immediately regretting it as he collapsed into a coughing fit, his throat dry and burning. “W-wat-“ a glass was shoved into his mouth and he happily lapped up the cool trick of water, soothing his insides.

“You were very lucky Captain. If it wasn’t for the fact that you heal much faster than the average human, you would have died. You inhaled a considerable amount of the toxic gas and your shoulder was in quite a bad condition” Coulson said, setting the glass next  to Steve’s bed. He could still feel the teeth sinking into his flesh.  

“Peter? Is Peter alright?”

“Your son is safe. He’s at the tower now with Thor since the others are all here. They’ll come visit tomorrow.”

"Cynthia said he had a disease-that's why they changed him into a mutant, did you check him?" Of course that was the first thing he would ask, thought Agent Coulson as he looked through Steve's medical notes.

"Rest assured Captain we did indeed check him over before sending him home. His body is akin to yours-that is to say, he is much stronger than the average child his age. In that sense you are both more alike than first thought."

Steve nodded with a small smile, then frowned. “ What about Cynthia and the mutants? The Lizard?”

“….I am sorry to say the mutants did not survive. Ms.Nichols is currently in the detention ward along with Mr.Connors. I’m sure the others can fill you in as to what happened. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of paperwork to complete.”

Steve smiled and watched the man go before settling into the bed again, sleeping as soon as his head touched the pillow.

He was woken a few hours later by the smell of fresh coffee and food. The others were awake, Clint and Natasha sharing their breakfast on their bed. Tony was absorbed in his tablet and Bruce was reading a newspaper.

“Hey look like sleeping beauty’s awake again.”

“Seriously Steve you need to stop sleeping, then not sleeping…we’d have thought 70 years was enough.”

Steve laughed. “Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine, not too badly bashed up.” Clint had his arm in a sling, but otherwise they seemed to just be small flesh wounds.

“Tony?”

He looked up. “Huh? Oh yeah I’m awesome Cap, I don’t even know why I’m here.” He smiled, a little strained, before returning to his gadget.

Bruce looked over and smiled sadly.

“Everything alright Doctor?”

“Yes, though you gave us quite a shock.”

“Yeah cap you need to stop that, Coulson’s heart can only take so much.”

“Why , what happened?”

“Well the lizard grabbed you with Cynthia, you passed out from the gas, Tony flew in and rescued you like fucking Prince Charming and you ended up here. Then Cynthia copied Loki's speech when they dragged her away and we all ended up here. Cool huh?”

Steve blinked, taking it all in.

“And everyone’s safe?”

“Yup.”

"I still don't understand why they needed Peter though." 

Natasha spoke up. “Well we figured out her motives. Her whole story was a lie, she had been one of the scientists on the bug squad project. Richard had been head of research and he’d almost perfected the mutant cross. They were just trying to find a way to reverse the insect powers as the enhanced DNA meant they were practically like super powers. She thought it was taking too long and so made her own version-one with far more alarming results. A mutation that couldn’t be controlled. Peter can control how he uses his powers, but these were just horrid combinations of various insect anatomy. Anyway, there were no volunteers for her program so she went to prisons and asked to use their wounded criminals. They were promised to be cured, instead they were given new limbs and additional parts-the same thing that had happened to her when she tried it on herself. The only flipside was that they were virtually indestructible. When Richard found out however he immediately set to find a way to counter what she’d created. Within days the authorities were onto her. So in a desperate attempt to preserve what she’d created she blew up the labs which they were working in to destroy the evidence-using Richard’s chemical. She wanted to use Peter because his DNA had been altered perfectly. If she replicated it, her army would have been unstoppable.”

Steve nodded, frowning. “But doesn’t Richard’s chemical effect Peter as well? It was against the whole mutation?”

“Yes but it would have only hindered Peter. That’s why he was the only one out of all of us-except for you, who could inhale the gas. That’s why she needed Peter’s DNA so badly.”

Well then, that’s always an interesting fact to find out about your child.

“Okay, and how did she know Peter was with me? How did she even get a job at SHIELD?"

“Because she set the authorities to look for Dr.Connors and not her, therefore she was clean. When she got into SHIELD, it would have been easy to find out who had Peter.”  

“Coulson knew didn’t he? That’s why he gave Peter to me-to protect him from this. And he knew I’d move into Avengers tower meaning the boy had the best protection.”

“Most likely yes.”

“That and you were lonely.”

“Thank you Clint.” He rolled his eyes. “I guess I’ll have to thank him for my entire life. Well I’m glad that’s over.” And he was, he was so relieved it couldn’t even quantify as an emotion anymore. This was his true test as a parent. “Good Job catching him Clint,I-“

“Don’t sweat it Cap. I’d do anything for the little guy.”

Steve smiled, genuine admiration in his eyes. “Natasha you okay after the fight?”

She looked up and smiled, there was a cut along her cheek. “I survived. It’s what I do best.”

“And I got beat. Again. But man those things were creepy-there was this one cockroach dude with razor sharp legs and this other guy who had a bee Sting the size of a nuclear bomb. I’m gonna have nightmares for years.”

Steve agreed. Those two days were up there with the most terrifying ones he’d ever had to endure. He sympathised with every parent who’s child had gone missing. It was traumatizing. Even more so to have to fight humanoid creations for said child with the possibility of him dying.

 “Guess we’re gonna be here a while...”

“It could be worse.” Natasha said, cleaning her nails. They all nodded.

Steve cleared his throat.  “So you never did finish Vampire Lesbian Erotica…”

Clint froze, his jaw hanging.

“Barton you’re catching flies.”

“Yeah but Steve…did you seriously just….wow.” Clint ran to his bedside before wincing, realising his muscles still killed. He grabbed the book and sat on Steve’s bed with Natasha. Steve turned to ask Bruce but the scientist had fallen asleep on his newspaper.

“Tony you gonna come join us?”

“Uh no, got uhm work to do. Unlike some people I still have a company to boss around.”

Steve nodded.

“Thanks, by the way, for coming yesterday. I know Peter isn’t your son and all, but it meant a lot.”

“Coulson forced me to.” He said with a small laugh. Steve sensed he was lying. Clint and Natasha had fallen oddly silent.

“Well thanks anyway.” Steve wasn’t sure whether to feel angry or hurt. He kept asking himself the same question, how had everything turned so sour? He wasn’t sure whether he’d done something or Tony felt annoyed with him. He thought he’d read the symbols right. He thought he’d been giving the right symbols too unless human attraction had suddenly changed.  Steve would have to face him soon.  He just needed to find the right way to do it.  

\--

Tony felt like shit. No really, more than he did yesterday. Sure he’d gone to SHIELD and got them to help rescue Peter and sure he was super relieved the kid was alive. And then Steve had been captured into the gas. He was protected, the suit had faced the gas before in the first explosion they investigated, but Steve had nothing. The agents had grabbed Cynthia and Connors, but Tony had repulsored their faces just for good measure. The other didn’t see what he did. Steve had been on the floor coughing up blood before blacking out. His mouth was swollen, lips and nose bleeding. He’d flown Steve straight to the medical team. He didn’t want the team to see this and he certainly didn’t want Peter to see him. It had been traumatic few hours when Steve wasn’t waking up and Tony couldn’t sense his pulse or heartbeat. They thought the effects of his first passing out might have impacted this, they could only hope it hadn’t.

But Steve had survived, and it was one of the rare times Tony thanked his dad for making Steve’s body so perfect. He’d been part of the celebration when Steve had finally come back on line, but in the hours watching him sleep for the second time in hospital, Tony realised he had well and truly blown any chance he had with Steve now. Or any of the other Avengers. They’d all been apprehensive about him-and he had accepted it, because he’s Tony Stark. But then they warmed up to each other and as much as he hated to admit it, they had become a family. And now he’s become a sentimental idiot with a crush bigger than a teenage school girl.

But he screwed it all up. Must be in the Stark nature. Also reason #3247 why he should never be a father. Tony would hope that Steve’d forgive him, that he’d be accepted back in and things were normal. But he’d learned the hard way to never be optimistic.

\--

 “DADDY!” Peter ran to where Steve had just stepped out of the elevator at Stark Tower.

“Pete!” Steve picked him up and hugged him tight. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“I wuv you Daddy!”

“I love you too Peter. Did you have fun with Uncle Thor?”

“Aye! The spider warrior and I indulged in many games and much movie watching!”

Steve laughed, "I'm glad to hear that!" 

Thor's smile turned to a serious frown. "And you Captain...are you keeping well?" 

"Yes Thor I'm fine." 

"Good because your unconsciousness scared me more than the time I found a frost giant in the ward of robes!" 

"Uhm...okay Thor, I'll warrant that was a very terrifying experience. Oh, has Peter been having his afternoon naps?" 

Thor froze. "The young spider warrior ceased to inform me of such things." 

Steve sighed, "Peter...did you stay up with Uncle Thor?" 

Peter looked up innocently, "Noo....." 

"Peter I think you need to sleep, that's enough excitement for two days!" 

The boy pouted. “Don’t wanna sweep!”

“Okay Peter how about this, if you sleep now, we can stay up late and watch movies? Does that sound good?”

The boy considered it for a second, before asking “ Can Or come?”

“Yes of course Thor can come.”

“ and Roose?”

“Yes Bruce can come too.”

“Lint and Asha?”

“You wouldn’t want to leave them out would you?”

“Oni?” He looked especially hopeful at the last name. Steve hesitated.

“Tony might be a bit busy but I’ll ask him okay?”

“…okay” He said and curled into Steve’s shoulder. “Sweep now.”

“Yes Peter, we’ll sleep now.” Steve took him down to his floor, relieved to be back. He tucked Peter in and held the boy to his chest. "I hope we're never parted again Peter, you have no idea how worried I was. I love you, always." He kissed his forehead and wrapped the boy in the blankets before heading out. He needed this time to talk with Tony. 

A few minutes later saw him entering the level for the workshop. He took a breath-he could do this. He could so do this.

Or at least try to. He knocked on the glass, hearing the familiar clang of heavy bass guitars. Tony was feeling especially death metal-y today.

“Jarvis can you let me in?”

“Certainly Captain Rogers.” The door released and Steve walked in. Dummy rolled over and Steve smiled, stroking the robot.

“Hey it’s been a while hasn’t it? Oh I’m sorry I haven’t been around lately. Tony’s been a bit of a jerk.” The robot whirred happily, whining a little as Steve left it to walk over.

“I heard that.” Tony was sitting at a desk and doing…paperwork by the looks of it. What had possessed him to do _that_?

“Hey Tony, we uh, need to talk.”

“Love to Cap but I’m kind of busy, Pepper needs these done an-“

“Tony, for once in your life just cut the bullcrap and face me like a man.” Gosh that hadn’t come out as planned…maybe he really was recycling old movie lines.

Tony turned around. “I’m facing you.”

“I need to talk to you about what we’re going to say to the media but before that, what the hell is wrong with you?”

Tony raised an eyebrow with a questioning look. “Many things Cap-Pepper, has a list if you want one-she probably does. She could make you one.”

Steve rolled his eyes and glared. It was like the meeting at SHIELD all over again. “What was all of that at SHIELD yesterday? You hole yourself down here for weeks; completely avoid us besides the fact that we had a strong friendship. And then you say you don’t care about Peter, but the next minute he’s your son!?” Steve was yelling, but he was a man with a mission and was not to be deterred.

He was expecting a snarky remark from Tony, or a sneer or the beginnings of a fight. Instead the man just bowed his head, like a child caught cheating on a test. What was he supposed to say now? I avoided you because it was my fault you passed out of exhaustion? The more time you spend with me, the more you’ll learn how messed up I am? Yeah, over his dead body.

Steve sighed and looked away. He knew he wasn’t going to get much. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Might as well accomplish what he came here for.

 “Look we need to deal with the media stuff that’s been floating around about us and we need to do it fast. SHIELD said we have to issue a statement tomorrow. We should just tell them that Peter’s my adopted son and that any semblance of relationship between us is clearly just outsider speculation.”

“Wow Cap using big words.”

Steve just glared. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the brief.” Steve got up and winced as Tony looked up. Steve’s face was contorted in pain but he shook it off-literally-and carried on to the door. He wanted to reach over and comfort him but stopped. Steve would probably give him a black eye if he entered Steve’s 1m radius uninvited.

Tony said watching Steve go. “Oh uh Steve…”

“What?” Steve was standing in between the two open doors of the workshop, blonde eyebrow raised.

“ I’m uh- sorry, for what I said, about Peter. I wasn’t thinking and…I didn’t mean it.” That had probably been one of the hardest sentences for him to say. He could feel the Stark pride leave him. “I was just…the rumours and all…I didn’t want them to get ideas and make it harder…for you. I…honestly didn’t mean for it to go that far and I know asshole behaviour but did you really expect anything else?”

Steve stared at him, shock clear in his blue eyes. Then he his lips tugged up into a smile and-oh sweet Jesus it was like the sun had just risen over a desolated wasteland ,plunged in darkness for decades experiencing warmth and love for the first time. Why was he smiling so brightly!?

“It’s all right Tony, I know you didn’t mean it-I mean, I was sure you wouldn’t…mean…something like that.” He smiled a little nervously, then added-a little more seriously. “But you’ll have to make it up to Peter. He wants you to come to movie night today, would you…he asked me to tell you to come.”

Tony looked up as if thinking it through before saying “Jarvis am I free tonight?”

“Well sir your schedule does seem to be empty for this evening.”

“Then I’ll be there.” The corners of his mouth ascended a little, not nearly mirroring Steve’s radiance, but it was encouragement enough.

“Great! He’ll be thrilled! See you tonight!” He left and Tony caught himself staring at that wonderful rear view a little longer than he should have.  He was once again, regrettably, reminded of Grease.

In retrospect, that was not how Steve had envisioned the conversation at all. In his mind it involved a lot of shouting and insulting and…well general unpleasantness. Perhaps it showed Tony could be mature about things he cared about. If he cared at all. Okay even Steve had to admit his apology was definitely genuine. But it was good, it meant they were mending. Steve was still trying to figure out _why_  Tony had been so distant. What was going through the scientist’s mind? Did he feel he was responsible for-oh. _oh_.  That made perfect sense. As soon as Steve had recovered from passing out Tony had severed him from his life-the same thing which had happened when they asked him to help Peter.

For a man who’s at the head of the tech game, he seriously needs a healthy dose of common sense. Steve smiled; it was time to make his move.

\--

The table was set up. The lights were set. The blood thirsty vampire-I mean, the reporters were ready-cameras set, recorders on, fingers itching with anticipation to click the magic button.

Steve and Tony were standing in the hallway next to the room in SHIELD along with the other avengers; Peter was with pepper in her office.

“Okay Cap time to work that patriotic magic of yours.”  Tony said, trying to ease the tension.

“Well I’ll need the Stark snark to settle the scores won’t I?” Steve smiled, turning to face Tony. To them they were just looking at each other. To everyone else, it was…

“Gaaaaaaay.”

“Thank you for your input Barton. Captain, Stark, you’re on.” Coulson opened the door, hidden behind his infamous sunglasses. They made their way inside, just as the rest of the team moved as well. Coulson smirked a little, oh how they’d grown.

Steve and Tony were through, Bruce making his way through the door when some tight ass security guard blocked the way.

“The statement needs to be issued from those two directly, please wait outside.”

“Oh I’m sorry I thought this was Avengers business and-we’re all Avengers here.”

“That may be however at this moment in time your presences will not be needed.”

“I’d watch your step or your presence is about to get beaten into oblivion.” Clint pulled out an arrow, Thor unsheathed Mjolnir and Natasha casually passed three widow stings through her fingers, smirking as they crackled.

Bruce smiled innocently. “I’ll just be going through then.” He pushed past the annoyed man with ease, the others following with Clint deciding to be gangsta and going “WHAT!?” loudly in the guy’s face.

Steve and Tony had just watched in awe, smiling with relief.

“Thanks guys.”

“What are families for?” Bruce said, clapping Steve on the shoulder.

“Obviously not obeying social conduct.” Tony followed the two and they walked onto the raised platform. The room was buzzing in seconds.

Steve took a deep breath and started. “Hello everyone, as you have been told, I am Steven Rogers. Better known to you as Captain America. Earlier this month, a former close friend of mine-Ms Cynthia Nichols, leaked information about me to the media. That is why today I stand before you to clear these rumours up.” He inhaled again, closing his eyes before facing each and every set of eyes and camera on him. “Yes it is true I have a son. However I am not his biological father. I adopted him out of my own choice. He is also in no way connected to Mr Stark. Thank you.”

There was a dead silence before questions started getting fired at him.

“Who is the father then Captain?”

“Does he really have spider powers?” 

“Why did you adopt this child?”

“Are you the real Steve Rogers from the 1940s?”

“How do you feel about being tainted by Mr Stark’s tarnished reputation?”

“Are you sure you’re not involved with Mr Stark in anyway?”

Steve closed his eyes and tried to drown it out. Oh here came hell.

“One at a time! Just because he’s a super soldier does not mean you can drive him insane!”

Steve looked to Tony who just smiled and shrugged. Nothing new then. Steve opened his mouth and decided it would be best to clear up all the stupid rumours. Clean the slate once and for all.

“My son’s real father remains anonymous as does this ridiculous “spider powers” rumour. It is classified information and I do not find it relevant to share. It is fairly obvious why I adopted him and even if I tell you the real reason you’ll print something else instead. Yes, I am the real Steve Rogers from the 1940s-you want proof? I have no idea who the hell Darth Vader is and for some reason everyone likes Beatles. I have not been _tainted_ by Mr Stark’s reputation-which, might I add, has been nothing but clean for the past few years so your question is completely invalid. No Mr Stark and I are not involved in anyway. No I'm not going on your ridiculously bigotted talk shows, no you cannot interview me and no I'm not telling you my sexual preference. Are ya happy now?” Steve opened his eyes as he finished. The room was silent again. He looked around; the team were smiling at him with encouragement. Tony looked shocked. The reporters were trying to decide what to make from his speech. Steve thought he’d done quite well. True, the repercussions could be deadly but…at least he’d enjoyed every minute of it.

“Well if that’s all I do have a 3 year old to look after and a superhero team to train so I’ll be wishing you a good day.” With that he got up and made for the door, the other Avengers following his lead with pride. Oh yes, Captain America had reached level BAMF.

And if anyone looked hard enough, they would be able to see Coulson mega-fanboying in the corner.

\--

“Steve that was AWESOME.”

 “Fair captain today you have shown your skills not only in the physical battle amongst men, but in the mental battle amongst minds!”

“Good job Steve,” Bruce pat him on the back whilst Thor (almost) crushed his rib cage. But he didn’t because it was a strong Captain America ripped rib cage. They were all sat in the dining room of Stark Tower over Indo-Chinese takeout. Clint had suggested it “To celebrate Steve’s spicy side!” 

Steve shrugged. “I just said what I felt they needed to hear.  I had other things on my mind but it involved words that would not be agreeable to say out loud.”

“You mean blaspheming on a practically national broadcast?” Tony poured himself a drink and sat next to Steve. Peter was fast asleep in their room-proud of his daddy who was on the “ee-vee!”

“Yes, unlike some people, I prefer not to do so.”

“Hey I make up for the both of us.” They laughed like it was some sort of private joke. They realised only a little too late that the others were just silently eating their food with eyebrows raised. Or well, two of them were. Clint just smirked like the little shit he was and Thor was stabbing chicken with a chopstick.

Steve cleared his throat. “So Christmas is coming up. I was, uh, thinking we could do a small thing? Just us 7, for Peter.”

“Sure! We can decorate the tree!”

“I agree! I have yet to experience this midgardian custom! Alas my fair Jane is spending it with her family and I politely denied for fear her mother may feed me more of her “deadly meatloaf”. I wish not to die from food poisoning. It will not be deemed an honourable warrior’s death!” Thor told his tale with such emotion you’d think it was a west end production rather than a story about country meatloaf.

“Uh okay big guy, hey can I be the Hawk at the top of the tree?”

“Clint…don’t you mean angel?”

“…I always had a hawk…”

“How does that not surprise me.” Tony rolled his eyes. “I should warn you-I don’t really do…Christmas and family and all that shit.”

Steve frowned. “You mean you just spend it…alone?”

“Mostly yeah.”

Steve thought back to the previous Christmas he’d spent alone and decided no one deserved that sort of treatment. “Well this year’s different. You’re going to spend it with us!”

Tony was about to decline, thinking that this was probably going to end quite badly for him. No point getting close to people right? They just end up breaking your heart.

But then he looked around at the people sitting beside him, the people he now knew as his family as they were smiling hopefully with genuine care in their eyes. He may not have had a great family experience, but it was never too late to start one. He made the mistake of looking at Steve and he just seemed to ooze love and happiness and rainbows and sunshine. Just seeing his face made Tony think off gingerbread houses and cinnamon, roast turkey and Christmas pudding.

He might need therapy. Steve-therapy.

“Sure why the hell not. Just so you all know you’re probably all going to get cars.” They laughed, continuing with dinner.

“No seriously. I’m not good with presents.”

“I’m not complaining.” Natasha smiled, filing her nails.

Clint coughed. “*hawkcar*”

“Sorry what was that Barton? I think you got prawn stuck in your throat. Did you say something about a dork car?”

“Fuck you Stark.”

“The “I’ll” is missing from the beginning of that sentence.” Tony smirked and turned, catching sight of Steve. Who was totally not jealous. Nope.

After the statement was released, there was still speculation and stupid rumours, but Steve decided to ignore it and bask in his victory. Instead he spent all his time making Christmas preparations, playing with Peter and catching up on time with Tony. It had seemed a bit awkward at first, but soon they were back into their old pattern.

And if they touched a little more than usual…well Steve was warm and it was winter so it’s accepted. Not like they were getting _close_  or anything. No.

The months jumbled together with Steve frantically organising everyone’s presents. He also found his mom’s old cook book, preserved carefully (by himself) over all these years. Her Christmas dinners had always been the best, he'd tried his very best not to cry and decided the best way to preserve her memory was to make her killer Christmas dinner.

He also found her old knitting needles-albeit a little rusty, but still usable. So it was one evening at Tony’s lab he started knitting. Tony had mocked him mercilessly for it but Steve continued. Knitting was manly and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Peter continued to circulate through everyone’s personal time, but mostly ending up on the couch with Steve in Tony’s workshop. Peter had become Tony’s #1 fan, paying close attention to anything he said. Steve would sometimes just watch them with admiration at how well Tony had managed to handle that child. Tony really would make the perfect father for him. Theoretically, of course.

But speaking of Peter, Steve had noticed that boy had become absolutely _obsessed_  with dogs. Not that he didn’t like them before, he loved puppies but lately all Peter seemed to want to do was look at pictures of dogs (who gave him a StarkTablet?!), watch TV shows about dogs and pet dogs when they went out (they now went out in groups of 3-4, even though the Lizard was gone, they still wanted to be cautious). Oh yeah, and disguises. The first time they’d made the mistake of going to the park in normal clothes about 100 moms came up to say hi to Steve and Peter had to be hastily smuggled away by Natasha.

But at least they managed. So Steve was sensing some heavy hints being dropped and decided it was time to surprise everyone at Stark Tower. It would be a very risky move to make, but if it was safe for a toddler to live in, it should be safe for any other creature to live in.

So life resumed its comfortable pace. No more hermit genius inventors, no (major) crimes and soon it was time to get decorating.

Thor and Steve went and got a tree. Well, they got to the tree depot and Thor insisted on cutting down the tree himself. At least it had been a good tree however the look on Tony’s face when they brought it in was _priceless._ Thor had to do some more chopping.

Clint had climbed the tree at the first chance he got and stuck a lifesize wooden hawk on top of it, complete with tinsel necklaces and a mini halo. Steve had gone mad over the detail, asking where Clint had got it from. Turns out he’d carved it himself.

He also learned that when it came to tree decorating, you do _not_  interfere with Natasha’s symmetry. So in that way, the top two layers of the tree were immaculate with ribbons and tinsel and little LED roses. But from there downwards it was a mess of various decorations that “the guys” had done. They’d all gone to the city and bought truckloads of various baubles-including an Avengers range. The person at the cashier had just looked at them like “seriously? You’re buying your own products?” As soon as they got home the Christmas radio station was on, the vats of hot chocolate were ready and there were stacks of mince pies for the mighty hero appetite. Operation tree was on.  They’d used the Avengers figurines to play out mini battles on the tree itself whilst narrating it to Peter. Steve couldn’t remember another Christmas he’d enjoyed so much. One time he had returned from the kitchen, he just sat and watched the whole scene in front of him. Thor was supporting Bruce on his shoulders to reach a higher branch; Clint had a Grinch Santa hat on whilst he climbed various branches, placing the baubles in a rainbow; Tony and Peter were working on the base levels together, Peter passing a decoration he thought looked cool and Tony fixing it for him. Peter also proceeded to throw webbing onto the tree, giving it a snowy effect.  If only he had a camera to commemorate the moment…or, wait, this was Stark Tower. There was always a camera commemorating the moment.

“Jarvis, are you recording all of this?”

“Well they are all accessible in the security feeds, yes.”

“Could you maybe take a few photos and send them to me? I want to remember this.”

“Certainly Captain.”

Almost every evening following this was spent by watching old Christmas movies by the fireplace whilst the tree was lit up. Steve’s favourite Christmas film by far was the miracle on 34th street. They made the mistake of watching Rise of the Guardians again and the general consensus was that St.Nick was Thor; The Easter Bunny was Tony ; Tooth Fairy was Natasha (she never agreed to that); The sandman was Bruce leaving Jack Frost as Steve (get it, ice?). Oh and Clint was the annoying kid, which he was totally okay with.

The weeks leading up to the special days continued, in between which there was the SHIELD Christmas party which everyone went to. It was a dance party and everyone had I _insisted_ Steve come so Peter had to spend the night at Pepper’s again. Speaking of who, as a total change of events, she was going out with Johnny Storm. Turns out she and Susan had been good friends in high school and she’d crushed on him for ages but alas-the same old story, she was a nerd, and he was a jock. Tony totally gave her his permission and blessing and shit (and did not design a fire repellent device to be installed in the tower in case he decided to drop by). Steve was happy for her from the both of them.

The party had been organised by the junior agents so naturally the music was just loud heavy bass pop stuff. But luckily some of the older agents still had class and Spandau Ballet came on for the couple slow dance. Steve watched from the side, itching to join but…he had no one to dance with. Well, he would have asked Tony because, they could dance as friends right?

“Hey Steve!” He turned to see Tony approach him. “You look lonely, need some awesome company?”

He smiled, “Sure Tony.”

“Hey uh….you wanna dance or something?” He was uncharacteristically nervous, but it was the invitation Steve had definitely been waiting for.

“I’d be honoured, Mr Stark.” They walked onto the edge of the ring of love and danced awkwardly, before Steve decided to be Mr Adventurous and pulled Tony in a little bit more so they were pressed against each other, arms wrapped around their bodies. In any other circumstance, people would have found it funny because Tony was just that little bit shorter than Steve. Instead it was almost adorable the way he could lean his head on the other man’s or Tony could rest on Steve’s hench man chest.

It was about then, with the soulful singing of Gary Kemp in the background, staring straight into his partner’s eyes that Steve realised he was most definitely in love with Tony Stark.

The song came to an abrupt end and they reluctantly separated, Steve opened his mouth to say something but Tony dashed off with a word of “drink refill” before he had the chance. Steve sighed, oh he’d made it awkward again. He was walking back to his corner when he noticed two figures still dancing even though the song had stopped. He felt envious of them, those two loved up SHIELD agents who-holy hell, wait was that… _Coulson?!_  dancing with…Hill? He smiled, despite the surprise, he was sure they were perfect for each other.

Thankfully forgetting the Christmas party incident, Steve continued with his preparations for the Christmas, spending days preparing each dish so there was enough for Christmas Eve, Christmas breakfast, Christmas dinner and leftover sandwiches for tea the next day. Peter had been the master taster, with an odd avenger popping in to give their thoughts too. Steve had force fed Bruce some of the pudding batter because that man was way too polite. After that, he made sure to _always_  stop by the kitchen.

 

Soon they found themselves awaking to light dustings of snow on the building, before the heavy load that was dropped on Christmas day. Peter was over the moon and went straight for it in his pyjamas. Needless to say, Steve was not impressed.

“Peter you’re going to catch a cold! Come back here!” Steve was about to go get the boy when someone else ran past him and dived into the snow on the balcony. To no one’s surprise, it was Clint.

“Hey merry Christmas Steve! “

“Merry Christmas Clint-now get back inside both of you! I do not want to have to cure you both of colds!” Oh god, he sounded like his mother.

“Hey Cap, what’s going on?”

“Our children are misbehaving. Oh and Merry Christmas Tony”

“Uh yeah Merry Christmas Steve.”

“Sorry Mom and Dad!” Clint called, chasing Peter with a snowball.

Steve rolled his eyes. “I’m making breakfast, keep an eye on them.”

They were, finally, successful in extracting the two kids from the balcony and after the small breakfast of cocoa and mince pies it was present opening time.

There were various boxes scattered under the tree and so everyone just dived, distributing the named ones out.

There were a few left that were two heavy to move, so they left those till last. It was decided that Peter would get to open his first (being the kid an all) so he sat in the middle of their circle, attacking each box. From Bruce, Peter had got the Golden Disney box set and a little lab coat with goggles (Peter had _loved_ Bruce’s and wanted some of his own) the pocket had his name sewed on with a little embroidered spider to complete it. Peter immediately put it on and ran to give Bruce a hug.

“Tank yew Roose!” He said happily, before going to the next package. This one was from Clint and Natasha and it was a set of arrows and a bow, handcrafted by the master assassins themselves.

“Don’t worry Cap the arrows are blunt!” Clint assured him. Steve didn’t mind, it just meant he would now be called Spider Hood. The bow was smooth and had been carved with little spiders too, with grooves the perfect size for Peter’s fingers. They got a very happy hug too. Thor’s one was heavy and possibly a little worrying because it was in a case. Steve helped him open it and found…armour inside.

“It is infant armour for the young spider warrior! Worry not Captain, it has been worn by Asgardian children for many millennia. I have had this adapted by the great dwarves in their mountainous smiths to accommodate and protect the young one!” Steve nodded, a little worried but…armour couldn’t do anyone too badly. He _had_  to admire the workmanship in it. There was a little helmet with wings on the side of it, a chest plate with an ornate gold spider carved into it. The metal was light as a feather. Peter found it awesome and slammed the helmet on. He looked like a ridiculous mad scientist.

Finally it was Tony’s package and Peter opened it slowly, the box being almost as big as him. As soon as he did, something stepped out and bowed in front of him. Peter looked into the box again and found a small contraption much like a game control. He toggled the buttons and the thing moved. It was a little iron man! Complete with all the features of Tony’s suit (except for the arc reactor). Peter hugged Tony and sat in his lap whilst he explained how to use it. Steve was in awe. Everyone had spent so much time making Peter his presents...he felt overwhelmed with gratitude.

“Hey Stark, y’know, my birthday’s coming up so…”

“In your wildest dreams Barton.”

“It was worth a shot.”

The last package was from Steve and it was a little knitted jumper with a spider pattern all over it. Peter loved soft cuddly things and slipped it on happily.

“Okay us next!” All the boxes were out and everyone started opening them in a rush. Tony looked at all the boxes in front of him with no idea which to open first. It had been _years_  since he’d had so many presents-or any presents, for that matter, to open.

He started with the one he was pretty sure was from Steve. Something red and fluffy tumbled out. Tony picked it up and spread it on the floor in front of him. It was a jumper-but not just any jumper. It had replicated the chest plate of the Iron Man suit, with the arc reactor proudly in the centre. The arms had little gloves on the end with knitted repulsors in the centre.

“Steve…did you make this?” He looked over the very embarrassed man next to him.

“Um, yes, I did…”

“It’s…I....”

"Oh my god Steve, Stark's silent for once."

"I think you've broken him."

"Shut up! I'm not goo with accepting things!" He snapped, grouchily putting the soft jumper on. It passed over his nose and wow, somehow Steve had even managed to get his gorgeous fragrance into it. Not that Tony memorised Steve's smell or anything. That would just be creepy.

“Woah Steve! This is AWESOME!” Clint had opened his-a purple jumper with brown wings on the back, each feather perfectly defined.

Thor’s was a direct replica of his armour-but it was comfortable. Bruce’s was green with the Hulk chest patterned on the front. Natasha’s had the red time turner black widow sign and Steve had even put a little gun on the side of her arm.

“Captain! This cotton masonry is worthy of the merit of Gods! I will show this to my father, next I am on Asgard.”

“Uh okay you do that Thor.” He blushed, embarrassed.

They continued opening, with everyone getting awesome upgraded new weapons from Tony except for Steve, whose present was the big thing under the tree. He went to go and open it when Clint threw a fit, telling him he had to open his first.

 “Oh my god….Clint…are you serious?! Where did you get this from?”

“I have my ways.” He said. It was the platinum edition of Van Halen’s dreams-the original from 1989. It was also one of five. “You’ve got a gramophone right?”

Steve laughed. “You mean the one I bought when I was 16, in 1932?”  

“Aw man, if only someone had thought to get you one for Christmas.”

“Drop the act Barton you’ve ruined it now!” Tony sighed.

Steve looked confused. “What…?”

“Open the big package now.”

Steve went over and gently unwrapped it, gasping as it was revealed. It was an original vintage gramophone, brass horn and turntable complete with carvings. Steve stared at it before feeling his eyes go a little wet.

“Daddy?” Peter looked up from his perch on Natasha’s lap, concerned.

“Woah dude I didn’t mean for it to give you bad memories-“

“No no! I’m happy!” He said smiling and crushing Clint into a hug.

“Steve…Steve I’m happy you like it but I’m just a little guy can you jus-“

Steve let go and blushed. “Sorry, I forget sometimes.”

“Hey do I not get a hug considering I bought it for you?” Tony sounded very put out and Steve rolled his eyes even through the small tears.

“Oh very well, if you insist.” He said in mock British accent and hugged Tony too. It was…well…probably a lot longer than considered usual hugging time. Y’know, for two straight guys who were bros. Tony just inhaled Steve's neck, it was like a drug.

“Oh Steve where’s your other present for Peter?” Bruce said, smiling. He was the only one Steve had told about it.

“Oh! That’s right-Jarvis could you?” Steve reluctantly let go of Tony and sat down again, Peter looking up in confusion response to his name.

“Certainly Captain Rogers.”

The elevator doors opened behind them and they heard the bounce of feet on the floor as a small yellow thing bounded into the lounge.

“Steve…is that a dog?”

“Yes.”

“Steve why did you bring a dog into my tower?”

“Because Peter wanted one.”

“Yes but Steve! It’s a _dog_!”

“Yes Tony, glad to see you didn’t fail biology then.”

“But Steve they’re messy-“ He couldn’t finish his sentence as he was jumped on by the little puppy. It was a Golden Retriever and Steve had fallen in love with it the minute he stepped into the pound. He’d been by himself in the corner, just chewing on newspaper and Steve had gently stroked its back when the puppy jumped into action, running all over Steve.

“Oh look I think he likes you. What a shame, wouldn’t want him to leave now.”

Peter padded over to inspect why Oni had fallen over and gasped. He had been the only one who probably didn’t catch on that it was a dog yet.

Tony got up slowly and the puppy slid off onto Peter, licking the boy’s face enthusiastically. Steve knew Tony loved it really.

Peter laughed and petted the dog carefully, stroking its fur.

“Aw Steve I can’t believe you got us a puppy!”

“Indeed! We now have a canine warrior to add to our ranks!”

“Yeah it could be like the Avenger Dog…” Tony said with a small smile.

Bruce smiled. “I told you so.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Fine you win this time”

Tony looked between them. “What?”

“Oh we had a bet, I bet that you’d be okay with having a dog and Steve said he wasn’t sure.”

“Hey wait I didn’t say that, this is totally not okay! It’ll crap on my carpets and be sick everywhere and smell!”

“Sure Tony, sure.”

“Guys we need a name.” Natasha said as the spider baby and dog came running over to her.

“Rocket.”  

“No.”

“Tony Stark.”

“Wow Tony I didn’t know you hated him that much to name him after such an asshole like yourself.”

“Barton that car of yours is going to get demolished.”

“Wait what?”

“I said nothing.”

“Balthazar!” Thor declared, and the puppy ran over to him. The others stared in shock as Peter ran after it too.

“...I think he just responded to that…”

“Wait so his name is now Balthazar?” The dog looked up again.

“Evidently.”  Steve said. He’d never thought he’d own a dog named Balthazar. Well then again, he never thought he’d be spending Christmas with a son and a family of his own.

Peter looked up. “Al?”

“I pronounce thee Balthazar “Al” the Avenger Dog, mightiest of all Canine warriors, faithful to all masters and loyal of all canine kind!” Thor said and the puppy just barked in agreement.

It was most definitely time for food and Steve went into the kitchen. He put the record player into action, singing along to the tones of David Lee Roth as he assembled (ha) the meal.   It consisted of two giant turkeys, an array of vegetables and salads, gammon and chicken, pies and pudding and to finish-a vat of gravy. The silence around the table seemed to speak for itself. Balthazar had a little bowl in the corner where Steve had put some turkey in for the little dog.

After lunch everyone was sprawled on the sofa, completely stuffed. Peter had split the wishbone with Clint and burst crackers with everyone. Steve pulled too hard on Tony’s and ended up pulling the poor man straight into him. (not that he minded).  Thor demanded to watch his How I met Your Mother seasons 1-8 box set that Tony had got him.

“I do enjoy this particular aspect of Midgardian entertainment!” He said as it started. Steve decided Peter could be allowed to watch it-not that he would understand what was going on of course. By the time they were halfway through season 6, everyone except Steve and Tony were fast asleep, with Peter and Al curled up on Steve’s lap.

“So was this better than spending Christmas alone huh Tony?” He said with a smile.

“It was alright, all this family stuff doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Sure it wasn’t the three helpings of turkey you ate?”

Tony rolled his eyes. Peter rolled around on Steve’s lap with a soft sigh and Steve gently ran his hand through the boy’s soft hair. “You know, I’m still getting over the fact that they thought he was our son.”

“Why?”

“Just…I guess I’m just getting used to rash accusations the media can make.”

“You seemed pretty comfortable with it before, you seriously showed them. I was waiting for the "Captain Sassy" headline.”

“I’m not sure that’s a word that could be considered a Golden Captain America quality.” He said with a small chuckle. “ But I mean imagine if he _was_  our son. I really want to know what they’d say about that.”

“Uh huh….” Tony looked away, then cleared his throat. “You know I meant what I said…”

“What?”

“You’d still have to buy me dinner first.” Tony was looking at him now, fully serious.

Steve opened his mouth, unsure of what message he was supposed to take from this. See before it had just been a few small flirts and then he'd fallen into the ocean. He realised he had about 0 experience when it came to real life wooing.

“Oh god I’m sorry no just-just forget I said that…I thought…Pepper said I should give it a go and oh-“ His head was in his hands so it came out as a muffled rant but even Steve could tell what he was trying to say.

“Sure Tony.”

“What?” He looked up through his fingers.

Steve smiled, honest and sincere. “It’s a date.”

Oh sweet Jesus.

Oh and in case anyone was wondering, Clint did, in the end, get the Hawkcar. It was Tony and Steve’s present to him. He just has to figure out how to use it.

\--

Holy hell 8000 words. BUT IT HAPPENED YAY STEVE’S GONNA GET THE D.

S: I’m getting what now?

T: *choking with laughter*

Me: It’s your extended Christmas present. Very extended Christmas present.

S: I’m not sure I like where this is going…

T: I know I do~

Me: oh you’ll like where it’s going…it’s going somewhere deep…

Heh heh heh >D (no there is no smut in this story I am terribly sorry but I prefer to keep superfamily fics nice and domestic thank you)

Oh and it's so weird writing a christmas fic in the middle of summer! Oh well, I'm getting into the cheer extra early! 


	10. The SuperHero Adoption Scheme (Alternatively known as Steve got the D)

 

It was mid-January when they were once more summoned to the SHIELD headquarters. All the agents wished them a happy new year and Clint took delight in walking around with his Hawk jumper and Hawk car. In fact, he’d liked it so much that Steve had knitted him a little hawk head hat and matching talon gloves.

Thor, Bruce, Clint and Natasha were gathered in the same meeting room 3 they had previously been in, waiting for Tony and Steve. The chair Steve broke had been replaced but there was just a crack in the table, left as a memoir to anyone who decided to mess with Captain America.

Finally the two lovebirds surfaced, entering the room.

“Sorry we’re late we had to drive Peter to Pepper’s house an-“

“We know why you’re late Steve no need to make excuses.”

“More like we _heard_ why you were late.” Bruce sounded pained. Steve went red. Tony smirked and Coulson just got it.

“Stark we will be having words later!”

“Wouldn’t miss if for the world Dad.”

“Now as you know the mutant Cynthia Nichols and her accomplice Curt Connors have been imprisoned, however we still have possession over the mutants from the previous labs. We called you in as we thought you ought to know.”

“…wait there’s still _more?_ ”

“Yes Barton, they were not killed in the explosions and we were successful in recovering most of them. Follow me.”

He led them down to another super top secret part of SHIELD no one ever knew about or ever would know about.  The corridor looked completely normal at first, but on close inspection there were no doors and no apparent breaks in the sleek metal. Coulson stopped in front of a seemingly random point in the wall and placed his hand on the metal. Various buttons and options spread out and with a few quick, precise taps, the metal folded in to reveal a door.

They walked in and were lead into a vast room with little glass cubicles. In each of them sat a single child, with a bed and a secluded toilet. It looked a lot like a prison, but a very comfortable prison with nurses and nannies at your disposal.

“They were all children. It seemed the adults were too weak-as you saw.”

They walked down and went to each cube, looking at the children. Steve clasped Tony’s hand as they walked along the rows of kids. They just looked up at the men, not saying anything. Well, most of them were too young to try. Until they finally reached the end of the row, just as they were turning to go back.

“Hey Misters, are you from the Avengers?” The kid was probably the oldest there, being far taller than any of the other ones-older than Peter even.

“Yeah, we are, that’s Iron Man and I’m Captain America.” Steve kneeled so he was the child’s height, smiling at the boy through the glass. He had sandy blonde hair stuck out in curls and freckles on his nose. Steve really wanted to know where they’d got him from.

“That’s so awesome! I never thought I’d get to meet you guys! That Agent lady and her boyfriend always sound really annoyed when they talk about you, but I think it’s because they care y’know?”

“What is that Coulson?” Tony had joined Steve on the floor. “Yeah he’s a pain in the ass but he loves us really.”

“Tony! Language!” Steve sounded shocked, but the boy just laughed.

“So what’s your name?”

“I’m Harvey. I’m 8 today.”

Steve faked a gasp. “Really? Wow you’re so old! Happy Birthday kid.”

The boy beamed with a broad grin, there was a gap where he’d lost his first tooth.

“My son’s only 3. I’m sure you guys’d get along really well.”

“Really? It’s so boring in here; it’s like that time we went to the doctors. I was in a cage for ages! I had to keep all the kids calm. It wasn’t too bad, they love me really. It’s better than the orphanage we came from that’s for sure.”

Steve frowned a little, “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah but I don’t think I’m very normal anymore.”

“What do you mean?” This was what Steve was regretting. Hearing how the child had found out about the mutation.

“Well…I can do this.” He closed his eyes and a grey coating seemed to grow over his skin. “Is this…normal? Am I dangerous?”

“No! Not at all, you’re special kid. You’ve been blessed with a power. Don’t look at it as something abnormal or strange, look at it as something unique about yourself. That’s what I did and look at where I am.”

“Thank you Mr Stark!”

“No problem kid.”

“This place is definitely better than the orphanage.” He decided. “Agent Hill and Agent Coulson talk to me all the time. Agent Hill brings me sweets too. She reminds me of my mom. Except my mom used to hit me all the time.”

Steve tried to keep his smile as the kid continued his story without as much as a waiver of breath. He couldn’t believe half of what he was hearing. Well, at least his chances were better now. He’d have to talk to Hill about keeping this child safe.

“Captain, I regret to inform you we must leave now.”

“Hey Agent C!”  

“Hello Harvey.” Agent Coulson seemed…happier than usual.

Steve sighed as he got up. “It was nice meeting you Harvey, I’ll see you again soon okay?”

“Okay!”

Steve grabbed Tony’s hand again as they walked off, but it seemed Harvey wasn’t quite done yet.

“Uh Mr.Captain America?”

“Yes Harvey?”

“Will I get to meet your son?”

“….Soon, I promise.” Steve said with his fake smile. He only hoped it would work on the kid. They walked out where the others were waiting for them, grave looks on their faces.

“Coulson what do you expect to do with all these children? We can’t just leave them here.”

“We are currently in talks with the board, Dr Banner. They do not wish to…spare the children. They view them as a potential threat. Even in their infancy.” Which was Coulson’s way of saying, we brought you guys here to do something about it so get a fucking move on.

“Woah woah woah you mean they’re just gonna kill the little guys?”

“…Most probably…”

“Cold-blooded fucking heartless idiots! Are these the same guys who wanted to nuke us last year?”

“…Yes…”

“They’re so gonna get it-“

“Agent Barton they are also responsible for allowing us to keep you please do not upset them just as yet. I have paperwork to fill in so you are free to do as you please.” Coulson turned and left as the Avengers made their way out.

“I fear for the brave young ones. They remind me of our dear Peter.”

Steve was silent the whole journey home, thinking deeply. Something _had_ to be done.

\--

“Hey Steve, wanna tell me why you’re in such a bad mood today?” Tony said as he leaned on the tense block of muscle he was proud to call his boyfriend. It had only been one month after Steve had sort of asked him out, and then there was the awkward first date after Christmas. But now they were in a good pattern. Peter didn’t seem to mind, he just thought that they were spending more time together. Which was fine.

But Tony hadn’t realised by being #1 most annoying douche bag what he was missing out on because now he had a Steve to literally drag him out of his workshop every day or to sneak up on him and give him a bone crushing hug or to have his face eaten off by those amazingly talented lips. Oh yeah, he was feeling stupid now. But it had been one of the nicest years of his life by far and he really had Steve to thank for that. They all had Steve to thank for that. He’d made the once harsh and isolated tower into a shared family home-even if it wasn’t the typical design. Even Balthazar enjoyed it because Jarvis now knew when the dog needed to go pee (he would direct the dog to the correct area) and when he wanted to go to a different floor. Peter was in love with the dog and was rarely seen parted from it. Clint, Thor and Bruce fought over who would take him out for walks until they decided it would be best if they all went which somehow evolved into having a full Avengers picnic in the park. (They tended to keep hidden from the public eye).  But back to now, Tony had to deal with his first crisis-Steve wasn’t in a good mood.

“Well I’m just worried about those kids. Every time I think about them being killed, I just imagine what it was like to have Peter taken from me almost about to get killed. I don’t think I would be able to live with myself if I let that happen.”

Tony got up and sighed. “I guess SHIELD isn’t as liberal as first thought.”

“They were all orphans Tony, kids snatched from their orphanage. Sure they said it was better but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to a normal childhood. I wish there was a way we could save them. Give them homes. SHIELD gave Peter to me because they knew he wouldn’t be safe in a human home. Where will these kids go?”

Tony nodded and thought for a second. “So they need strong, superhuman people to look after the mutants right?”

“Yes.”

“…Wait, that’s it!”

"What is?"

“Keep up Steve! They needed super humans to take care of them, who do we know who are super humans?”

“You mean like every superhero in New York?” Then Steve got it.

“And Agent Coulson-I mean that guy freaking mastered Death.”

Steve chuckled “Tony that’s brilliant! We could contact everyone we know-Reed and Sue, Pepper and Johnny, That Daredevil guy who never stops to talk to us. And SHIELD agents. Between them, we should get most of them a home.”

“Exactly.”

“And it could be for any other superheroes/kids with powers that need protection-no wait, where are we going to house them? They can’t stay in SHIELD.”

“Oh what a shame it’s not like I have a mansion or anything.”

“…Wait you mean the one that How-your father had back when I first met him? The big one with the velvet curtains and all?”

“The very same. I’m sure as hell not going to live there so we can use it to house the kids.”

“Wow Tony you’d just give it up?” Steve seemed genuinely impressed and a little shocked. "It's a beautiful house..." He'd envied Howard so much when he'd been invited in. It was hard not to be. 

“Are we not forgetting my full title?” Steve rolled his eyes,

“Of course genius philanthropist source of Coulson’s headaches.”

“I don’t remember that last one being there.”

“Really? I think it’s been there quite a while…” Steve smirked and pulled Tony into him for a long kiss. Ah, if only Van Halen’s dreams were playing.

“WOAH DID NOT WANT TO SEE THAT! Sorry kid this scene is not for little eyes.” They broke off just in time to see Clint grab Peter and Al and run to the lift.

“GUYS WARN US NEXT TIME!” He called.

“He’s just jealous.”

“I think anyone who can’t call Steve Rogers aka Captain America aka the sassiest and sexiest man to be alive next to Tony Stark, the Danny to my Sandy, as their boyfriend, would be jealous.”

“I think anyone who can’t call Tony Stark, billionaire genius playboy philanthropist-love of my life-secret sappy romantic-centre of all hedgehog analogies as _their_ boyfriend, would be jealous.” 

“I’m pretty sure I’ve never admitted to half the names you just gave me-but love of my life can stay.” He smiled and leant into Steve when the man smirked.

"Wait did you just calle me the Danny to _your_  Sandy?! I'm pretty sure I'm the Sandy here." 

"From what you've shown me so far Steve, I think I'd have to disagree." As they proceeded to do some very unspeakable things for the rest of the day. Basically, Tony needs about three new couches and a bed. Hey, Steve’s aggressive. Nothing he can do about it. Or wants to.

\--

A week later Steve and Tony were, once again, happily back in SHIELD HQ. Everyone’s favourite holiday destination. They made their way to Fury’s office with the paperwork Tony’s legal team had managed to do (had been bribed to do) last minute.

They knocked on the door, and were surprised to hear a woman’s voice telling them to come in. What they weren’t expecting was to meet someone they never anticipated. Nick Fury’s wife.

“Why hello there! Oh you must Mr.Stark, honey I’ve heard _all_ about you. And you must be the lovely Mr Rogers, that interview you did for the news-that was pure genius! You keep your confidence up boy, those idiots need a taste of their own medicine once in a while.”

“Thank you Ma’am much appreciated.” Steve bowed his head, all blushing soldier like. (If Tony didn’t have a reputation, he would’ve swooned).

“Oh wow Fury, I didn’t know you had a sister.” Tony smirked as he kissed the woman’s hand. She was tall and dark, with black hair styled into tight vintage curls. With a very modest business suit she looked like an ordinairy woman, but it was clear she had a powerful presence and aura. Especially if she was married to freaking Nick Fury.

“Oh stop it; your charms won’t work on me young man!” She took her hand away and waved him off with a smile.

Fury looked mortified and ready to bury himself. “Well thank you Chantelle you can leave us now.”

“Uh uh uh, I’m not letting you stay here by yourself. Besides, I don’t want you to intimidate these lovely young boys.” Her smile was menacingly sweet. “Coffee anyone?”

“I’d love some thank you.” He leaned over and ‘whispered’ to Fury. “You didn’t tell us your wife was a BAMF.”

“Save it Stark. Now what are you two mothe-“

“Language.”

“You two here for.”

Steve tried not to laugh and handed over the papers for him to read. A few minutes later he looked up at them.

“The Super Hero Adoption scheme. Really? That’s what you’re calling this?”

“Yes, got a problem?”

“No, just be thankful the board gave us this extension or else those kids would be dead.”

“See honey, you need to learn some humanity!” Chantelle walked over and took her place at her husband’s side. Steve was pretty sure she had probably been an agent at some time.

Fury nodded. “Yes Dear.” Maria Hill walked in. “Sir I-oh Mrs.Fury, I wasn’t expecting you! It’s good to see you again.”

“You too sugar-what have you done to yourself? Your hips are so sharp they could slice paper-you need to eat.” She was deadly serious now, in mothering mode. Hill just smiled and looked down. That sentence sounded all kinds of wrong.

Tony snorted and Steve fought to keep a straight face. “Sir has this been approved? May we proceed on the plans?” 

“The plans have been approved. I’m not sure what the board will say-“ Then Fury noticed another sheet of paper he hadn’t noticed. “What’s this? SHIELD Academy?”

“We found some extra rooms in the mansion and thought it would be good to use them as teaching areas for the young heroes. We can teach them how to use their powers and train them control. And we could even have facilities for full day academics so as not to endanger their identities.”

“And who’s going to teach these lessons?”

“Us, sir, or whoever’s available if we’re fighting crime and the agents.”

Fury nodded. “Give it a shot, I’m not promising anything.”

“That’s all the confirmation we need! Catch ya later, Boss.”

“Beat it Stark.”

“It was lovely meeting you, Mrs.Fury.” Steve smiled and Tony winked as they left the room.

“It’s a good idea, did you mean it?” Chantelle said, looking over seriously. 

He looked up. “After what happened during the invasion, the board has a lot to answer for. This should be allowed. And if it isn’t, we do it anyway.”

“That’s my husband, big director boss guy aren’t you now?”

Hill cleared her throat. This was making her slightly uncomfortable. “Sir I’ll be taking my leave now.” She darted out of the room just as Steve and Tony were turning to leave.

“Captain! Captain Rogers! Wait!” She ran after them.

“Agent Hill. What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to apologise for how I acted when your son was kidnapped. It was wrong for me to say what I said and I’ll hope you will forgive me.” In truth, she’d been trying for a child for years. It had been going so well but both the man she’d almost married had left her hanging.  She was jealous of Steve. And if she was honest, there was only one man she’d ever want to be with. But that was a thought she knew she definitely couldn’t afford to have but…even strong women like her have small weaknesses. It’s how they choose to deal with them that makes their strength. And she had to suffer being his best friend.

“Apology accepted, hey it’s hard to change when you’ve spent your life being a bitch.”

“Tony! It’s alright Agent Hill. I understand.” He smiled and then paused as if he’d just remembered something. “Oh, and since we’re here, I believe these are for you. Harvey told me about you, I think you might want to consider it.” He handed over one of the printed adoption packs they’d already had made. 

She looked at it and smiled with a small tear in the corner of her eye. “Thank you,”

“You’re very welcome-oh and Agent Hill, I hear Agent Coulson is down there too. You might want to talk to him about it.”

She nodded and walked away, still oblivious to the fact that someone had seen them getting cozy on the dance floor.

“Steve…what did you just do?”

“Nothing.” He said with an innocent smile.

“Steve…did you just play matchmaker?”

“Maaybe. Come on Tony, I thought we could try Vietnamese today.”

Tony smiled as Steve walked off. That man never failed to surprise.

\--

The next few months they were solely fixated on working on the Scheme. Fury had said they should just go for it regardless of what the board said and that’s all Tony ever needed.

The mansion was cleared out and the Avengers got to helping strip it down. All the riches were stored and Tony decided to sell them for charity but anyone who wanted the furniture was more than happy to take it. Afternoons were spent sitting in the ballroom of the mansion with food and games. Peter and Al had taken to exploring every part of the house. By the third month, construction was ready to start. Tony had designed it so each child had their own bedroom, with extensions being made in the back. The garden was vast-so enough for the children to play on. Jarvis was also installed into the house, because everyone needed Jarvis-and it had been his final resting place. No harm in continuing the legacy.

The whole house was full of the latest StarkTech, with top of the range computer labs, interactive learning facilities and screens everywhere. They were working on one section at a time but the whole thing would be up and running by late November.

Steve made sure he got to know all of the kids, spending ages talking to the little ones in SHIELD. Harvey had been successfully adopted by Maria and Phil Coulson, after their small SHIELD wedding that somehow everyone had got to know about so they had a huge reception. Steve even let Coulson use his shield for the evening. But now Steve decided to give Harvey a late birthday present and took him to the tower. 

“Mr Steve! Am I going to meet your son now?”

“Yes, he’s like you too but he's got spider powers.”

“He's like me? Wow!" Harvey seemed a lot happier. 

“Daddy?” Peter appeared with Al in his arms. He looked at the new person with curious eyes.

“Hey Pete I want you to meet someone, this is Harvey.”

Pete nodded and walked up to the boy who’d grown suddenly shy. Then he smiled and pushed his hand out along with one of Al’s paws. “Hewo Arvee.”

“Hi Peter." Harvey was shy. 

"Wanna pway?" 

"Sure!"

Peter nodded and gestured for Harvey to follow him and the two boys were off. Steve smiled, if there was one thing he’d worried about when moving in, it was whether Peter was going to have any friends. But he seemed content enough.

Steve also realised they were fast approaching Peter’s birthday and with all the decorating going on, he was lucky he’d managed to finish his present. They weren’t planning on a massive party, just something small with the Avengers plus their new friends the Furys and the Coulsons. That was so strange to imagine.

So it came, the morning of Peter’s Birthday. Steve walked into his bedroom where Peter slept with Al and woke the boy up. Over the last few months, Peter had been told to sleep here and the boy had done so without question. But it was all part of Steve’s master plan-all of which was about to unveiled.

“Happy Birthday son!”

“Daddy!” He smiled and grabbed onto Steve with Al jumping up and down with excitement.

“I love you Peter.”

“Wuv yew too!”

“Hey Happy Birthday kid!” Tony walked in and Peter made grabby hands as he tried to reach the other man.

“Oni!” Said man picked him up and held him. “Did Daddy get you something nice for your birthday?”

Peter shook his head. “No!”

“No?!” He gasped. “Steve! How could you?! Well lucky for you everyone else got something, I mean your dad might have help-.”

“Hey! It was my idea!” Steve followed Tony into Peter’s bedroom, where the other Avengers were waiting. Tony set Peter down and the boy gasped.

“Happy Birthday Peter!” The others said as the boy smiled at his new room. What had started as a plain white bedroom had been transformed into a colourful pad worthy of the great spider warrior. The walls had been painted in bright colours with each of the Avengers on it, all done by Steve. The ceiling lights were different colours and there were little hooks and ladders for Peter to climb. His bed was huge and round with various stuffed toys including Peter’s prized Iron Man plushie. Next to it was a mini stark tower with Balthazar painted where the “Stark” usually was. The dog ran into it happily, curling up on the cushions inside. In the corner was a mini lab and desk for Peter-Bruce’s lab coat had been the prelude for this.

Peter smiled and immediately climbed the walls. It was his way of showing he enjoyed the place.  The Birthday breakfast was clearly in order with everyone’s favourite Dinosaur pancakes. Clint and Peter had a competition as to who could eat the most and Clint lost (well, he had to let Peter win right? It was his birthday after all!). Steve then forced Peter into bath time. He needed to look nice for his guests. Peter pulled on his spider jumper and jeans, wrapping a little scarf around Al to accessorize him.

When inviting SHIELD agents out of conduct, you’d expect them to be a bit lax. But since we’re talking about Coulson and Hill, the arrived 15 minutes too early where only Steve and Peter had actually got dressed. Harvey and Peter ran off just as Steve was cooking lunch and talking with the two agents(Coulson in jeans. JEANS.)

Tony walked up next and almost flipped out. “I’m sorry it’s gonna take me a while to get used to this.”

“Take your time Stark, we all have our moments.”

“Fuc-“ Eyebrow raise from Steve. “Stuff you.”

By the time the dining table was set, The Furys arrived. Chantelle was over Peter in minutes spoiling the boy with the many presents they’d bough. Fury just looked awkward because he did not do casual. He certainly didn’t expect to be invited to a get together thrown by _his_ superhero team with _his_ best agents.

But despite their original tension, it turned out to be a brilliant day with Peter and Harvey very happily getting icing stuck in their hair. Steve had made the cake, a two tier one with spiders crawling up it and sugar webbing with a little marzipan golden retriever on top to represent Balthazar.

By the end of it, Coulson and Hill had become Peter’s new Aunt and Uncles and Chantelle and Nick were now Peter’s grandparents. Because Chantelle was all over spoiling Peter rotten and feeding him and Nick was like the grouchy old man who just liked to tell stories about the war.

They were back to converting the mansion once again and soon the place was laden with construction teams, Tony heading them all. Work progressed and Steve made sure it was going to design. He and Tony still made time for themselves and Steve introduced the idea of them going out with Peter to try and get him used to Steve and Tony possibly as parents. 

The months slipped by and before Steve could even look up it was September again. The Mansion had been completely converted, two months ahead of schedule and the scheme packs were being distributed. Finally, on the 15th September, Steve and Tony opened the mansion with the official start of the Superhero Adoption Scheme. The children were lead to their rooms and classes began the next day. Tony and Bruce did Science and Tech, Clint and Natasha were the hard core P.E teachers, Thor and Steve specialised in humanities; Coulson gave them classes on perfect agent protocol above the compulsory language, maths, English and humanity subjects as per the national curriculum. Peter and Harvey were also in this and they progressively made new friends. Steve and Tony were full of pride as they looked on what they’d created.

Soon there were agents interested in taking children in. They were given the usual tests and interviews, but the Avengers made sure they knew each and every couple and child when they went out.

Finally one day Reed and Susan Storm dropped by and Steve was happy to ask them to join the team.  It was the perfect outcome of the perfect scheme.

Looks like Christmas this year was going to be heftily crowded.

\--

It seemed to be one project after another for Tony as he collapsed next to Steve on their bed. So far in the year he’d

-Finally got together with Steve

-Become closer to the team

-helped redecorate Peter’s room

-Discover his secret love for dogs

-Set up the Super Hero adoption scheme

-Re vamped an entire mansion

-Made friends with Johnny Storm.

-Reached a sort of peace truce with Coulson

There were still three months left of the year and he had one last task to do. But he needed to confront something first. And he had absolutely no idea how to do it-I know, Tony Stark, clueless. The horror!

It was time to get wing-ing.

“Hey Peter, how’s it going?”

“Hi Oni.” The boy grinned and got back to colouring on his desk. Tony sat on the bed just as Al jumped onto his lap, demanding attention.

“Listen kid, I need to talk to you.” He took a deep breath. “Here goes, you know I like your Dad a lot right?”

The boy nodded, not looking up from his paper.

“Well…I mean…we’re…we’re together and…I…oh god this is so hard. I love your Dad okay? And if I were to…uhm….say marry him, that’d make me your dad as well. What do you think, kiddo?” No reaction. “Peter? Are you even listen-what? Oh your drawing. Show me.” Better play it out his way then. Peter held up the paper to Tony. There were four people on it, the first one was very clearly Steve with yellow hair and, Tony found this hilarious, a full brown outfit (that man needed variety). In the middle was presumably Peter, with spiders around him and next to Peter was Tony-he’d got the beard just right, and finally next to him was Balthazar.  

“Peter it’s amazing….”

“Daddy Oni?” He said, lowering the paper to look up at him.

“Yeah Peter…I’m Daddy Oni now.”

\--

Hey this chapter’s half as long as the last one and I think I dropped more bombshells here. Oh yeah, so this was going to end on “Aww look the scheme got set up how sweet.” But no, I had this annoying plot bunny that refused to leave so now we’re having an 11th chapter. AND YOU’RE GOING TO LIKE IT.

C: can we not have any more of Stark screwing Steve?

T: Barton you know you loved it.

S: Tony I’m not into that kind of stuff.

Me: Oh I know what you’re into.  >D *hi fives Tony*

See you next time guys!

 

 


	11. I can hear the bells~

SASC11

Why did I do this to myself. Why.

\--

“Daddy, when Oni coming back?”

“Soon Peter, Soon.” Steve smiled as he tucked the boy in. Tony had been called away on business in Europe and it had probably been one of the loneliest weeks of Steve’s life. They’d never been parted for so long before and Peter seemed to really miss him. But Tony was meant to be back the next day and Steve could hardly wait. He had something important he needed to ask.

“Steve! Steve wake up man you’ve gotta see this!” Clint was slapping his face. Not the most effective method of waking someone up.

“What? I’m up, I’m up!” He slowly slid out of the, grabbing for his dressing robe.

“Dude forget that come on!” Clint grabbed Steve’s hand and dragged him to the top floor. He was a bit embarrassed to be caught in his Iron Man pyjamas, and thankfully grabbed his jacket on the way out of his floor.

“Fair Captain! I must offer you my highest congratulations!”

“What? What’s going on?” Steve wanted to go back to sleep, his eyes were barely open.

“Come onto the Balcony Steve, then you’ll see!” Bruce pulled him out and he ventured with caution. He walked to the end of the balcony and looked over the side, seeing crowds of people gathering at the foot. What was going on?

It was only the case of a simple walk to the other side that answered his question. He looked down, seeing the specks of crowded people. And then he looked a little closer and saw that something new protruding from the side of the tower. He guessed this is what they wanted him to see. He walked to the edge and slipped his feet over the side, inspecting this new addition. He could just about make out something that looked like an R followed by a circle-an O….; a G and an E. A little further and he saw another R and an S an-oh. It spelt Rogers. Well that was one way of coming out to the press.

He vaguely heard the sound of movement behind him as he slowly got up, checking to make sure he hadn’t seen things. Only Tony would do something like that. He turned slowly to head back inside and find Bruce.

Instead he was met with Iron Man in his signature kneeling position. He looked up and took of the helmet as a panel of the gauntlet opened to reveal a box. Steve was silent as he realized what Tony was doing. The box opened and-sure enough, inside sat a small ring. It was a rich gold band with a circle in the centre, rimmed with rubies and topaz, surrounding a blue diamond in the centre. Steve smiled as he realised what it meant Tony was giving him-the arc reactor, better known as, his heart. 

He looked up at the man standing in front of him, blond hair out in curls meaning he'd just got up from bed, flannel Iron man pajamas and a loose shirt that did nothing for his figure but made him look like so adorable. Sure he didn't look like the super soldier now, but it was small things like this that made Tony realise how much he loved him. And he was pretty sure he'd never been so certain about anything before in his life. 

“Steve…I have absolutely no idea why you like me and how you’ve managed to put up with me for the last few years, and I’d like to take you before you’re gone. So Steven Grant Rogers, will you marry me?”

Tony looked nervous, with hope clear in his eyes. Steve had never seen him like this before, so open and vulnerable. So, bringing in the Captain America innocence, he decided to play it out a little. He smiled, looking away as if trying to cope with it all, he could see Tony beginning to mirror his expression in the corner of his eyes. But then Steve frowned, put on the angriest face he could manage and exclaimed.

“Dammit Stark! Why the hell do have to ruin everything?!”

Tony’s face fell as he lowered his hands. He could see the other Avengers frowning in the glass doors of the tower. With a small smirk he walked up the kneeling Iron Man, rummaging in his jacket pocket before pulling out his own ring box. His was a simple gold band with a ruby, a diamond and a sapphire set in the centre-red, white and blue.

“I think we both had the same idea.” He said with a smile as Tony let out a sigh of relief.

“Jesus Cap you almost gave me a heart attack! You are _evil_ , absolutely ruthless! Messing with my emotions like that.”

“Did you really think the answer was going to be anything else other than yes?”

“Well I don’t know you could’ve gone all moody on me like “wait a few years” or “I’m not ready for thi-“ Steve grabbed him and kissed him, effectively stopping his nervous monologue and showing the world he was Steve’s.

“So that’s definitely a yes then?”

“Obviously Mr.Stark-Rogers.”

Tony smiled and they met in another lip battle again, smiling as the crowd cheered.

“So Steve, how do you feel about getting married in France?”

\--

The weeks after the proposal were awesome, but also very hell-ish. They’d started teaching at the SHIELD academy as well so they had to manage wedding planning in between classes and crime fighting. So to make it easier, everyone had a job to do, with Steve and Tony having the final say. Natasha and Pepper had commandeered it all because they were secretly massive fangirls. Pepper had been so happy when Tony told her.

“Tony! I can’t believe it! Oh I never thought I’d see the day when you got married. And you two are so cute together-oh my gosh, I have to help you plan this. God only knows what you’d do-I need to call Natasha!” She’d ran off and left Tony standing there utterly confused as to what had just happened.

“I think she’s happy for ya boss.” Happy had said-he was the lucky man in charge of wedding security, but of course would be a prized guest at the event itself.

The stag parties had been collaborated into one because neither of them really felt like doing it separately. So they all went to a nightclub in New York for a few hours, danced and then got bored and decided to do it traditional Avengers style-stay up late with Peter and re-watch the Jungle Book trilogy.

It had been simple, Natasha and Pepper chose the decorations and clothes whilst Thor, Bruce, Clint and Peter did the food tasting. Tony had been adamant on getting married in France, Steve just had no idea. Natasha had decided to go for an elegant gold, white and midnight blue colour scheme so Pepper matched the suits. Bruce, as it turned out, had a fine eye for detail and colour and helped pick out how the reception hall would look. Clint and Thor did the invitations and chose the party favours and by the time Christmas had come and pass they were on a flight to France.

“Tony….do we need to get married in a _Castle_?”

“Yes Steve, I am the Stark Prince therefore it is necessary.”

“Come on Steve, it’s a CASTLE! Wait has he seen it yet guys?”

“No it’s a surprise.”

“Aw Steve trust me you’ll change your mind when you do.” Steve smiled, playing with the band on his finger. “I’m sure I will.”

Night arrived as they were steadily making distance over the ocean. The exclusive luggage had been their carefully packaged weapons with the wedding clothes being sent over from Italy. Steve had found the whole thing overly extravagant, but it made Tony happy and secretly-Steve liked the glamour.

He looked over to his lovely fiancé. Things had been going so fast, they’d barely had time to go through the “omg we’re getting married how cute” phase. But he was still a little nervous. He thought back to 1939 when all he wanted was to prove he was worthwhile. Then to 1942 when he so desperately wanted to join the army. After everything that happened, the last thing he’d ever considered is marriage. But yet here he was, getting married to a man-a rich billionaire. How he’d managed to get so lucky…he could only count his stars. He was sure his mom was out there somewhere, smiling at him from heaven.

\--

Fury walked into his office, spotting the massive box sat on the table. He smiled, he’d been expecting it.

 Upon opening the mystery box, the national anthem started to play as he was greeted by a picture of Captain America kissing Iron Man on the balcony of Stark tower. The box itself contained a packet of chocolate coated cookie dough bonbons-just the type Fury liked (and to get into the French spirit), next to which stood the actual information for the wedding including two tickets to France for him and Chantelle.

“Sir, what are you doing here so late?” Maria Hi-sorry no, Maria Coulson walked into the office. She walked in and looked at the box on the table.

“That’s for Steve and Tony, isn’t it?” She said, dropping the formality.

Fury grunted in agreement. Maria turned the box around and smiled at the picture, despite her clear disregard for emotive things, even she found the picture far too adorable.

“I’m sure this isn’t what you had in mind when you first formed the Avengers.”

“I knew there were possibilities of them being a little attracted to each other. I just never thought it would be between Stark and Cap.” He laughed. I think everyone was trying to get over it.

“Sir…are you going to the wedding?”

“Going? I’m conducting it.” He said with a smile.

\--

It was a crisp morning in June when Steve Rogers and Tony Stark got married in le Chateau de Robert. It looked like a castle straight from a Disney movie with towers and turrets, spiralling staircases and suits of armour.

They were getting married in the garden, with a flowered arch set up in front of rows of seats. Fury stood there, divested of his large black coat, was now in a long flowing white thing that Tony was convinced was a nighty and Chantelle thought looked adorable. All the SHIELD agents that had been invited had been threatened that if they took photos, they would lose their jobs.

“Dearly Beloved-eh fuck that. To all you assholes who got dragged all the way out to France, we’re here today to witness the life bonding of these two motherfuckers in that they will protect each other in sickness and in health and some other shit like that. Okay moving on, Steve, do you take Mr Stark to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.” Steve sounded unsure with an eyebrow raised at Fury’s wonderful vows.

“Tony do you take Steve, who is clearly out of your league, to be your lawfully wedded husband.”

“I do.”

“You know the rest just try and keep it in your pants.” He got off the stage and ripped the ridiculous dress thing off his body as Steve attacked Tony on the stage. The crowd cheered as Steve picked up his husband and ran straight into the pool. Screw the Italian suit.

That night Steve and Tony left their reception early to retire to the large suite they had booked. Peter, Harvey, Al and Reed and Sue’s kid Dani had been taken up to the children’s rooms with Bruce guarding them, not really one for parties.

I think it’s pretty safe to assume we all know what Steve and Tony were up to. It was after their rather heavy rounds that they sat in the large four poster bed, clothed and washed that they spent their time talking about the future and their amazing day. They’d hardly noticed the little bump in the bottom of the blanket until it started moving.

Tony moved to the side as Steve carefully lifted the blanket just as Peter popped his head out.

“Daddy!”

“Hey Peter aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

“Missed you.”

“Oh, well let me take you ba-“

“Steve, why not let him sleep with us tonight?” Tony smiled as the boy climbed into his lap. Steve ducked his head as he felt his heart swell.

“Alright, budge up you two!” 

They settled so Peter was in the middle, Steve and Tony both with their arms around the boy.

“Good Night Peter.”

“Goo’ nigh’ Daddy Stee, Daddy Oni, wuv yew.”

“Love you too, son.”

He smiled as the light reflected off the three of them. Tony never thought he’d be the one saying “his family” “his husband” “his son” with the life he had lived before. And in years to come, he never once looked back.

\--

25 years later

“And we watch as the mighty bug squad take down their newest enemy. Spider-man is close behind him, with exoskeleton leading the chase. Butterfly is carrying the Acid Assassin with Sting flying near and-boom! Victory to New York’s heroes once more!”

“I think she gets a little too into commentating fights.” Tony said as they watched their children being commended by the police. Everyone hummed in agreement. It was Steve and Tony’s 25th wedding anniversary and they’d, of course, planned a meal to celebrate it. Tony looked at all the people around him and smiled at how his family, and Stark-Rogers Tower, had grown over the years. He wasn’t even sure who lived here anymore.   As he sat in the middle of the ring of guests, Tony took the time to regard each of them, remembering all of their stories as the years had gone by.

First were Betty and Bruce who were sat curled together in the far corner, next to which where Thor and Jane. When General Ross had died, Betty had been free to roam and she’d gone straight to the Tower for Bruce. It had been a very emotional re-union and everyone in the tower lobby had cheered.

After years of harrowing, Clint had finally popped the question in the most imaginative way possible-by hiding the ring in the bottom of Natasha’s bottle of vodka, in the hope that by the time she got to it, she would be so drunk she would say yes. Unfortunately, she saw it before she even started the drinking and had simply fished it out, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t make me regret this”-and to be fair, she never did.

 On his right sat Chantelle and Nick Fury, still proudly being called Peter’s grandparents. On the other side of the room sat Reed and Sue Richards-their daughter was the Butterfly Dani. They’d even got Ben Grimm aka “Thing” to join their weird parade and he’s pretty sure he never regretted it. His wife, albeit blind, was a wonderful woman who everyone enjoyed the company off. She and Chantelle had hit it off immediately. They were the proud parents of Sting, a boy with the ability to deliver powerful Bee stings to anyone who came hear him. He could also grow stingers and wings which was totally awesome. Pepper and Johnny had adopted Trevor aka the Acid Assassin, possibly the most deadly of all the mutants as he could spit and project acid. But underneath the guy was really shy and sweet and Pepper had mothered him just right. The Coulsons were next, smiling as they watched Harvey and Peter on screen. Harvey had become Exoskeleton with his wood louse shell. The boy was practically indestructible, but he and Peter had stayed best friends all their life.

Finally next to Tony came their newest addition to the family-Gwen Stacey , now heavily pregnant with Steve and Tony’s grandchildren. That had been an eventful day. Peter had been panicking about how to tell them and Gwen, being the slightly calmer one, had simply walked into the dining room and said “Tony, you’re going to be a grandfather.” Then watched as Tony spat his food out and almost swallowed a fork. He thought he’d taken it quite well.  Their relationship had been…interesting, to say the least. Gwen’s dad had threatened Peter and practically bullied him when they met, but all it took was one visit from Iron Man and Captain America to set the old man straight. Tony and Steve both loved Gwen and thought she was a perfect match for their lovely son. Gwen Stark-Rogers sounded nice right?

Tony was pushed out of his thoughts when he felt a warm body sink next to him. Steve had finally sat down after hours of cooking-Steve’s food was not to be missed. He smiled just as the tower elevator rushed up as their superheroes returned with many embraces and back slaps. Dinner was as loud and eventful as it had always been with almost all of Steve’s wonderful food gone and any leftovers packaged and taken home. They said goodbye to anyone who wasn’t a primary Stark Tower resident.

Peter and Gwen had moved into Steve’s old floor when  he'd decided to live with Tony, much to both of their delight. They’d been worried that Peter would leave now that he was engaged to Gwen, but instead the darling son had decided to ask formally to move into his own home. And by that I mean he’d strolled into Tony’s office one day, business suit and tie in place. 

“Mr and Mr Stark-Rogers, I am here to ask for planning permission in the tower we currently reside in.”

“Pete? Is everything okay?”

“Yes Mr Stark-Rogers if you’d let me finish. Since Mr Stark-Rogers no longer requires his floor, I have come to ask you if my wife and I may please use it in his place.”

Tony sighed dramatically. “I don’t know, Steve what do you think? Should we let the boy stay or kick him out?”

Steve smiled and added with similar drama-“He can stay, if he must.”

And so that summer Peter and Gwen had got married and moved into Stark-Rogers tower. Gwen had also become a teacher at SHIELD academy. Their superhero adoption scheme was going remarkably strong, with couples and children being adopted almost every day. Steve and Tony spent most of their time there, and any child who went, the parents were _always_ assessed by them two first.

After the dinner, Tony found himself recounting all of these by sitting in what they called the gallery room. Every family photo they took was hung here, commemorating each and every important date, with space for more to come. There were Peter’s first sports day, the trophies from science competitions, report cards-the works. One corner was dedicated to Balthazar, who had died at the healthy age of 17. Tony preferred not to look there, it was too painful.

There was also the newspaper headlines of all the interviews after “Superfamily” had emerged. And there was one quote Tony would always be proud of.

“Mr Stark, how does it feel to have a family? Surely this was against all of your customs?”

“You know something, earlier when I would talk to people they would constantly tell me about their families and I would just agree or make some inane comment because I had no idea what they were talking about. But now, I can talk about my family, and I realise why they were always so happy , so animated when they said those things. Because there is, really, nothing more important, more golden, than family.”  He held that very close to his heart.It was so out of character the interviewers constantly asked whether it had been scripted. 

“Tony? I had a feeling you would be in here.” Steve walked in and held onto his lovely husband.

“Taking a trip down memory lane?”

“Of course.”

“I’m still getting over it. Can’t believe it’s been 25 years, my lovely hedgehog.”

Tony smiled and turned to embrace Steve. He’d counted his blessings everyday.

“Thought I’d find you here. Gosh dad, you’re turning into a sentimental old man.”

“Shut up Peter this’ll be you in 30 years.” Tony smiled as they welcomed the boy into their group hug.

“I don’t think I could ever ask for better parents, or a better family.” He said, smiling into both his Daddies.

“This is touching and I hate to break up the moment but-Gwen’s in labour.”

The whole tower was in a panic, rushing the girl into the infirmary. Natasha, Chantelle, Betty and Jane were inside with her, all with adequate baby delivering skills. The guys had been instructed to stay out. It wasn’t something they were equipped to see. Peter was tense, holding onto Steve and Tony. The others were grave as there was a silence in the corridor.

Finally the door opened with Chantelle, Natasha, Jane and Betty coming out.

“I think Peter and the gramps should go in.” The three nodded, going inside. Gwen sat up on the bed with two bundles in her hands. She passed one to Steve and Tony first.

“They’re twins.”

“Well no shit Sherlock”

"Peter! Language!" Steve hadn't abandoned his most favoured catch phrase.

Gwen looked to Peter. “Wait till we tell you their names.”

The men looked up. “Already?”

“We’d planned this. Dad, Pa, say hello to Anthony and Steven Stark-Rogers the second.”

They both stood shocked.

“Peter, you named your children after us?”

“Yes.”

“Seriously?”

“Where’s your originality?”

“Hey they are our children we may call them what we like!”

Tony didn’t care, he loved the child already. He gently rocked the baby in his arms, kissing the small wrinkly forehead. Another generation of heroes to train, he thought with a smile.

\--

Later that night Steve and Tony sat in their bedroom with a bottle of celebratory champagne between them, Tony now having to wear reading glasses. 

"Hey Tony, do you ever miss the old days?"

"What?" 

"You know, fighting crime, being young. I like it, but I don't miss the Avengers as much as I thought I would. We've all got new chapters in our life and I think ours has been nothing but eventful huh?" 

Tony smiled over as Steve popped the cork. 

"I don't think I miss anything of the old days-for me. I'd never want to go back." 

“I can’t believe it. Granparents, huh Tony? I never thought I'd see that come out of my mouth. Hell, I never think I'd make my 50th Birthday, let alone my 120th." He said with a grin, kissing Tony's forehead. 

“We’re not even that old, like we're not grandparent old." 

Steve laughed and lay on the bed, sipping his champagne. Tony was already drunk in the sight of his still timeless husband.

“What did I do to deserve you?”

“Your tech found and thawed me from ice.”

“…fair enough…say Steve, like I said we’re not all _that_ old.” He leaned over and grabbed Steve in a hot kiss. Within minutes they were into each other, just like on their wedding night. They almost failed to notice the rather large bump at the end of their bed until it twisted and the blankets were thrown off their bodies, revealing a huge blanket covered lump. 

“Wait-Peter?”

The boy stuck his head out. “Hey guys, I was wondering if I could sleep with you tonight. Gwen has to stay in the hospital and I don’t wanna be by myself.”

“Sure, of course son.” Steve chuckled and moved across, wrapping the blankets around them. Tony opened his arms where Peter eagerly jumped in-even at the not so childish age of 28.

“Might be a bit of a squeeze.” They then lay down with Peter once again in the middle, similar to the countless times they’d done so as he was a child.

“Good Night Peter.”

“Night son.”

“Good Night Dad, Pa, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The light came off and they lay in the darkness, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

“Oh yeah and guys, please keep it in your pants. I don’t want that image in my head.” They laughed and held the boy tighter, smiling at what was only a small part of their amazingly large family. 

Yes, thought Tony, there really was nothing as priceless as family.  He honestly couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Fin.

\--

That was a shit ending but I got emotional and I didn’t feel like ending it at ALL.

I WANNA WRITE 8 MORE CHAPTERS.

Anyway I am thinking of doing a small one shot for this on the side-it’ll most likely be a media fic etc etc.

But otherwise this has been a joy to write, my first ever completed story. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it yadda yadda yadda. I’ll be currently working on my other fic Broken Heels and for any of you LOTR fans Middle Earth University.

Catch ya later! <3

Oh and if anyone wanted to see the castle they got married in, it's here: http://www.simplychateau.com/provence-alps/chateau-de-robert/

 


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